The American reading public, which waited decades for crumbs from Harper Lee’s table, has reason to celebrate. “The Land of Sweet Forever,” produced posthumously amid concerns about her consent, arrives not as the cynical exploitation I feared but as a genuine literary milestone: eight short stories and eight essays that illuminate the corners of a singular American sensibility.

The essays, previously published separately, are now assembled, including a warm tribute to Truman Capote that first appeared in 1966. The stories, discovered in Lee’s New York apartment, appear in print for the first time and prove that even Lee’s apprentice work bears the mark of genuine talent.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” exploded onto the scene in 1960 with the force of revelation, becoming one of those rare nove

See Full Page