Harper Lee Books in Order: Complete Reading Guide
Harper Lee published two novels — To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman. Reading guide for both books and the controversy around the second.
Harper Lee (1926–2016) published two novels in her lifetime, though the story of how they came to publication is complicated. She is primarily known for one of the most celebrated novels in American literature.
Harper Lee Books in Publication Order
1. To Kill a Mockingbird — 1960
Start here. Always. Scout Finch, age six to nine, narrates two summers in Maycomb, Alabama — including her father Atticus’s defence of Tom Robinson, a Black man falsely accused of rape. The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that has been taught in American schools for sixty years and has sold over forty million copies. One of the essential American novels.
➡ Full review → | Buy on Amazon →
2. Go Set a Watchman — 2015
Published fifty-five years after Mockingbird when Lee was 88 and in declining health. Jean Louise (Scout) is twenty-six, returns from New York to Maycomb, and discovers that Atticus — the father she has idealised — holds racial views that horrify her. Marketed as a sequel; actually written first as an early version of the same material.
➡ Full review → | Buy on Amazon →
The Controversy Around Go Set a Watchman
Go Set a Watchman was published under circumstances that raised serious ethical questions. Lee’s agent and long-time protector Tonja Carter announced the discovery of the “lost manuscript” shortly after the death of Lee’s sister and guardian Alice. Lee had previously stated she would never publish a follow-up to Mockingbird. An investigation by the New York Times found Lee in a nursing home with significant cognitive decline.
Whatever the circumstances of its publication, the text itself is clearly an early draft — many Mockingbird characters appear with different names and relationships. It is worth reading for the serious question it poses about how we inherit our parents’ politics, but it should be approached as a draft companion piece to Mockingbird, not as Lee’s definitive second novel.
Affiliate disclosure: Links to Amazon on this page are affiliate links. We earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I read Go Set a Watchman after To Kill a Mockingbird?
Read To Kill a Mockingbird first — it is the masterpiece, and Go Set a Watchman is best understood as a companion piece. Go Set a Watchman is technically an earlier draft of the same material, reworked significantly before Mockingbird was published. Many readers find it interesting but significantly less satisfying than Mockingbird.
Is Go Set a Watchman a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird?
It was published as a sequel (set when Scout is an adult), but it was actually written first — before Mockingbird — and represents an early draft whose characters were later reworked. Scholars debate its exact relationship to the final novel. It should not be taken as a definitive continuation of the characters.
Why is Atticus Finch different in Go Set a Watchman?
In Go Set a Watchman, Atticus expresses racist views that contradict his characterisation in To Kill a Mockingbird. This has been interpreted as: (1) a remnant of the early draft that was resolved in revision; (2) a portrayal of how a man Scout idealised as a child looks different to her as an adult; or (3) evidence that Mockingbird's Atticus is a fantasy. All three readings have merit.
