A week after HarperCollins stunned the literary world with news that Harper Lee is to publish a second novel, controversy rages about whether the reclusive, 88-year-old novelist is of sound mind.
More than half a century after the mesmerising success of her book To Kill a Mockingbird, fans and writers were both delighted and taken aback to hear that Lee was releasing another novel.
They were even more taken aback to learn that it was a manuscript written 60 years ago and hidden away after an editor told the young novelist to recast the book into what become Mockingbird.
Go Set a Watchman features many of the same characters as Mockingbird and was discovered among her papers by lawyer Tonja Carter.
But could Lee, who had a stroke in 2007 and so often said she would never publish again, really be happy that a manuscript, long since discarded, was going to see the light of day?
Friends acknowledge that Lee has poor eye sight and is deaf. She has lived in a nursing home since 2007.
Gossip blog Gawker quoted Carter as saying last July that he client sometimes signed things "she did not understand".
Tongues wagged and Carter has been on the defensive, telling The New York Times that Lee is "extremely hurt and humiliated" by allegations that she has been manipulated.
"She is a very strong, independent and wise woman who should be enjoying the discovery of her long lost novel," Carter told the newspaper through emails and text messages.
"Instead, she is having to defend her own credibility and decision making."
Last week, Carter released an earlier statement telling fans that Lee is "happy as hell" about the new book.
US media has fallen on the story, quoting alleged friends and associates of Lee as attesting to her excitement and lucidity, or raising doubts and speculation.
Lee, who rarely speaks to the media, said via HarperCollins, that she was "humbled and amazed" the manuscript was to be published after so many years.
Go Set a Watchman is already number one in the best seller list at online bookstore Amazon, where the 304-page hardback is available for pre-order ahead of its July release.
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