Go Set a Watchman reads like it was not given a professional edit which, given the circumstances, makes sense. I don't mean to suggest it is full of typos and such, but it does lack the polished tone found in Mockingbird. The novel follows Scout, now an adult living in New York and going by her given name Jean Louise, visiting Maycomb and being shocked by all that has changed. I think it reads like a logical sequel; Scout now sees through adult eyes what she thought she understood as a child and the reality disturbs her. That being said, if Watchman had come first I don't think we would be discussing it in English classes across the country. I don't think people would re-read it as often as they do Mockingbird. I don't think Monroeville would have Watchman-themed everything and be thriving on tourism like it is with Mockingbird.
My verdict is: do not go out of your way to read it. And my main reason? Because I still do not believe that Harper Lee ever intended that book to be published, in her lifetime or posthumously. I think, like a lot of people out there, that Tonja B. Carter is taking advantage of her elderly, famous client. When she dies, it will be interesting to see what happens to her estate.
