Harper Lee readers demanding refunds were expecting far too much from Go Set a Watchman

The book was always doomed to be a disappointment both for those caught up in the hype and for fans of To Kill a Mockingbird

It’s been a little under a year since I first dove into the ocean that is reporting on Nelle Harper Lee’s current situation and frankly I still feel like I’m trying to catch the surf. More than a few waves have swelled since I first asking questions, then about a controversy regarding a book someone else had written about her (The Mockingbird Next Door, by Marja Mills). Obviously, the wave that came with Go Set a Watchman washed that former concern out to sea. And when I saw it rolling in this past February I began to get queasy. I’ve watched while people with greater access and more time at the New York Times, the New Yorker, and elsewhere, have fished around and have pulled a wealth of questions, if few answers, from their investigations. After all that, I’m not surprised that we’re no closer to an answer.

Related: US bookshop offering refunds for Go Set a Watchman

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