In a press release announcing the publication of the book, Harper Lee is quoted talking about the new book which she wrote around 60 years ago: ' I hadn't realized it had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it. After much thought and hesitation I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication. I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years.'

Protective

Ms Carter took over last year in the role of lawyer after Harper Lee's sister and lawyer, Alice, died at the age of 100. Alice had been seen as being ferociously protective of her famous sister and worked hard at keeping the outside world from intruding. 'To Kill a Mockingbird' tells the story of a lawyer's defence of a black man accused of raping a white girl in the prejudiced deep south of the US in the 1930s. The daughter narrator and lawyer father are main characters in the sequel. Source: Harper Collins