Looks like Harper Lee’s caregiver could be in for a pretty big payday, if you believe the terrible rumours making the rounds. Her second novel, Go Set a Watchman, has shifted 105,000 copies on its first day of release in the United Kingdom.
The figures have been released by its publisher Penguin Random House and include both eBook and physical copies. Many UK bookstores stayed opened during the night of its release on Tuesday.
“It’s so fabulous to see a book dominating the news agenda and to be reminded of just how important literature and reading is to all of us,” said publisher Susan Sandon.
“I speak for everyone at Penguin Random House when I say how privileged we are to be part of this piece of publishing history.”
The novel, which was written in the 1950s, has received polarising reviews from critics and casual readers with one review from Entertainment Weekly being particularly damning:
Though Watchman has a few stunning passages, it reads, for the most part, like a sluggishly-paced first draft, replete with incongruities, bad dialogue, and underdeveloped characters.
Set twenty years after the events of the iconic To Kill a Mockingbird, Watchman has been eagerly anticipated since its announcement, though it hasn’t been without its controversies. Some corners suggest that it has been released due to peer pressure on the elderly author, though proof remains hard to come by.
One thing’s for certain with the buzz surrounding Watchman, however. It’s nice to see the release of a novel that has nothing to do with a Twilight fan-fiction receive plenty of mainstream attention.
I have heard that in GO SET A WATCHMAN, we learn that Atticus Finch lightsabered Jedi younglings and that he’s really Scout’s true father!
— Chuck Wendig (@ChuckWendig) July 14, 2015
I won’t be reading Go Set A Watchman. I got burned too badly by Blues Brothers 2000 and learned my lesson.
— Jason (@NickMotown) July 14, 2015
“It’s like seeing your father cry for the first time, if he cried tears that were super racist.” https://t.co/s2BYRXhpRA
— Jared Keller (@jaredbkeller) July 15, 2015
Go Set a Watchman has finally arrived, partly excited, partly dreading it
— jess farey (@sabrinafairchld) July 15, 2015
This girl is probably my hero though.
Everyone’s talking about ‘Go Set a Watchman’ and I’m just here reading a book about the making of ‘The Room’ #GoSetAWatchman
— Paul Lang (@BadGuyFairyMan) July 15, 2015
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