With the reveal of iconic author Nelle Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman, the sequel to her one and only published work, the epochal To Kill a Mockingbird, readers across the nation are eagerly awaiting its July 14 release. However, a controversy regarding the Lee’s mental health and ability to make this decision of publishing the book has emerged.

As a fan of the To Kill a Mockingbird, I was joyfully surprised when I discovered the publication of a sequel. Go Set a Watchman had been written prior to To Kill a Mockingbird, and allegedly, the original manuscript was thought to be lost. The 2014 death of Lee’s older sister and protector Alice and the sudden discovery of the long-lost manuscript seemed almost too coincidental. Many wonder if Lee’s friend and lawyer Tonja Carter is taking advantage of Lee in having her book published.

Lee had never published a sequel and never intended to until the discovery of the manuscript by her lawyer. Lee’s cousin, Richard Williams, once asked her why she never wrote another book. Her response was, “When you have a hit like that, you can’t go anywhere but down.”

My original reaction to this quote was one of disgust. One of the main themes in To Kill a Mockingbird embraces the concept of courage versus cowardice. I thought Lee to be a coward and scared of failure after such a phenomenal success. This thought was amplified when I discovered the upcoming release of Go Set a Watchman. So Lee will now publish a book she wrote over fifty years ago, previous to To Kill a Mockingbird, but wouldn’t publish anything she wrote after her fame and success? But upon further research, I discovered that my assertion of her cowardice isn’t true. To confidently and surely step out of the limelight, refuse to succumb to demands for a sequel or more books and strive to live an ordinary life was courageous. Lee didn’t allow others to influence her; she did what she wished despite millions of people asking, begging and yelling at her to do otherwise. I’m ashamed of my hasteful judgements about Lee.   After all, as Atticus Finch once said, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

On the issue of Lee’s potential manipulation, I’m probably immorally succumbing to my desires. Although it cannot be known for sure if Lee was manipulated and taken advantage of, I still sympathize with Lee and pray that she all her relationships are sound and respectful. However, I admittedly really want to read that sequel. Not to say that if she was to realize her situation and that she was being taken advantage of, I would be angry for her withdrawing the novel and me not being able to read it, but rather that I would be disappointed, especially knowing that a sequel exists.

Overall, I’m proud of Lee stepping forward, especially with such big expectations that have accumulated for over half a century riding on her shoulders. I believe her to be courageous, and I wish for that courage and moral integrity to be protected. Yet, I am still highly enthusiastic about release of her sequel and reading the long-lost words from the book in my hands.