Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, will publish her first novel since Mockingbird became a Pullitzer Prize sensation in 1960 this July.

The book is titled Go Set a Watchman and although Scout Finch is an adult in this book, it was actually written before To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee said that when she had submitted Go Set a Watchman the publisher was more interested in a story set with Scout as a young girl. The rest is literary history.

The manuscript was believed to have been lost, but was discovered last year by Lee’s attorney.

Although Lee has gone more than half a century between publishing books, she hasn’t been a total recluse. On occasion, Lee has accepted awards such as when President Bush awarded her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007. However, she has long declined to speak in public. Lee will turn 89 in April.

Like millions of other people across Canada and the United States, I read To Kill a Mockingbird in high school and will never forget the mysterious Boo Radley. I suspect that To Kill a Mockingbird will experience a jump in sales this summer when Go Set a Watchman is released so that they can be read as companion pieces.