Did Harper Lee write a third book? Expert says manuscript is early version of 'Mockingbird'
An expert hired to evaluate another manuscript in Harper Lee’s safe-deposit box says the work is an early version of To Kill a Mockingbird, rather than a third novel.
Lee’s lawyer, Tonja Carter, hired rare-books expert James Jaffe, explaining in a Wall Street Journal op-ed in July that he would evaluate “the mysterious pages of text,” report the Wall Street Journal Speakeasy blog and the New York Times. The manuscript was in the safe-deposit box that contained Lee’s newly published novel, Go Set a Watchman.
The early Mockingbird manuscript evaluated by Jaffe begins with these lines: “Where did it begin for us? It began with Andrew Jackson.” Mockingbird in its final version opens with Scout describing how her brother broke his arm.
Jaffe told the New York Times the manuscript helps show Lee’s creative process. “What’s most interesting is, what happened, how did she do that, how did she pull that off?” he said. The manuscript “has all the faults of a first novel. Mockingbird’s a masterpiece. How do you get from here to there?”
