One sentence Summary
Go Set a Watchman: A Novel by Harper Lee is a classic coming-of-age novel about a young woman’s struggle for self-discovery.
Book Genre
Go Set a Watchman: A Novel is a classic work of historical fiction.
Main Topic of the Book
The main topic of the book is the search for identity. The novel follows a young woman, Scout, as she returns to her hometown in the American South. Her visit causes her to re-examine her views on her family, the town, and the country’s history of racism.
Key Ideas
- Self-discovery: Go Set a Watchman: A Novel is an exploration of the ideas of self-discovery and acceptance in a changing world. Scout needs to learn to accept both her past and her present in order to come to terms with who she is.
- Hope:The novel shows that hope and change can come to individuals and societies in even the darkest of times.
- Identity: The novel explores how identity is affected by our family, our upbringing, and our society.
Main Parts of the Book and a Short Summary
- Part I: Scout returns to her hometown of Maycomb, Alabama, for the first time in 20 years. She is immediately met with judgement and scrutiny from the citizens of the town. She is brought face to face with the reality of racism in the American South, and how her upbringing has affected her own views.
- Part II: Scout discovers the truth about her family’s past, including the social and political implications of her father’s decisions. She further explores her own views on race, her family, and her identity.
- Part III: Scout comes to terms with the truth about her family and her identity, and learns to accept herself and the world around her. She embarks on a journey of self-discovery and acceptance.
Key Takeaways
- We all go through a process of self-discovery.
- Our upbringing and family can shape our views on the world.
- Although we can’t change the past, we can choose to accept it and learn from it.
Author’s Background and Qualifications
Harper Lee is an author best known for her 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, To Kill a Mockingbird. Go Set a Watchman: A Novel was a sequel to her first novel and was first published in 2015, though it was originally written in the 1950s. Lee also wrote the 2006 novel The Reason for Miracles.
Target Audience
Go Set a Watchman: A Novel is best suited for readers ages 16 and up. It’s a thoughtful, thought-provoking novel that could appeal to both adolescents and adults.
Publisher and First Publication Date
The book was first published in 2015 by HarperCollins Publishers.