When I first heard the announcement about the release of Harper Lee's "new" novel, Go Set a Watchman, I felt ecstatic.  More from Maycomb?  Yes, please!  Then reviews started trickling in.  Not-so-great reviews.  The flame of my enthusiasm flickered a little.  Was Go Set a Watchman going to tarnish my undying love for To Kill a Mockingbird?  Would it spoil everything I thought I knew about Atticus Finch & Company?  Should I risk reading it or would I be better off just leaving it on the shelf?  Since I'm nothing if not daring (actually, I'm nothing like daring), I decided to take the plunge.  And, guess what?  I didn't hate Go Set a Watchman.  I get why some people did, but I didn't.  In fact, I liked it.

The novel opens with 26-year-old Jean Louise "Scout" Finch coming home to visit her father in Maycomb.  Although little has changed in the decades since she was a child running wild in the streets of the small town, Atticus has somehow become an old man.  At 72, he's crippled with rheumatoid arthritis and being looked after by Alexandra, his impossible, always disapproving sister.  Of course, seeing her father isn't the only reason Jean Louise is visiting—there's also Henry Clinton, Atticus' right-hand man.  And Scout's fianceé, if she would just go ahead and accept his marriage proposal already.  Determined to "pursue the stony path of spinsterhood" (15), at least for now, Jean Louise is happy to flirt with her long-suffering beau, philosophize with her aging father, and use her modern, New York-ified ways to scandalize the town she loves so well.

While happily pursuing these aims, Jean Louise stumbles upon a discovery so shocking it shakes her to her very core.  With this sucker punch to the gut, her safe little world tilts on its axis, throwing everything she thought she knew about her fair-minded father, his equally equitable colleagues, and her beloved Maycomb into doubt.  Is it possible that the people and place she's known all her life have changed so irrevocably in her absence?  Or is it Jean Louise?  As she grapples with the answers to questions she's never thought to ask, she must face the ultimate question:  Where does she truly belong—in prejudiced, provincial Maycomb or in permissive, progressive New York City?  It's becoming increasingly obvious that she can't have both.

Like To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman is a coming-of-age story.  Even though Scout is already an adult in body, it's her awareness that evolves throughout this novel.  The eyes through which she viewed her childhood are opened in ways that are startling and life-changing.  Readers who adore To Kill a Mockingbird will likely be just as troubled by the revelations that pummel Scout as she is.  Knowing the hard truth, even about fictional people in made-up places, can be horrifying.  While I still prefer the idealized version of Maycomb and her residents that appears in TKAM, it's fascinating to compare that with the more complex one Lee offers in Go Set a Watchman.  Studied together, the books offer a truly intriguing and enlightening reading experience.  Go Set a Watchman isn't the masterpiece that its predecessor is—in fact, it's clunky, confusing, and downright dull in places (although hilarious in others)—but as a companion novel (not a sequel or prequel), it adds illuminating layers to Scout's story.  Even if you're a diehard ignorance-is-bliss kind of reader, you don't want to miss this novel.  Not only does it bring to life a complicated, contradictory period in history, but it highlights how little things have changed over the years.  For a book written in the 1950s, Go Set a Watchman (especially its last few chapters) addresses ideas/themes that are oddly, eerily pertinent to issues we're dealing with today.  Beyond that, it's a compelling tale about contradiction, balance, and being humble enough to accept other people's beliefs even when (especially when) they conflict with your own.  In my opinion, Go Set a Watchman does exactly what the jacket copy says it does:  "It not only confirms the enduring brilliance of To Kill a Mockingbird, but also serves as its essential companion, adding depth, context, and new meaning to an American classic."

(Readalikes:  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)

Grade:


 

(Note:  Although this review will not contain spoilers from Bones on Ice, it may inadvertently reveal plot surprises from previous Temperance Brennan novels.  As always, I recommend reading books in a series in order.)

Finding dead bodies on Mount Everest is hardly unusual.  Around 250 people have lost their lives while attempting to reach the top of its treacherous peak, some from exposure, some from falls, some due to deadly avalanches, others from heart attacks, mountain sickness, and a host of other causes.  Most of their corpses remain on the mountain, their removal impossible in such an unforgiving terrain and climate.  They serve as a grim reminder of nature's awesome power, its dominance over man with his foolhardy notions and (often) fatal conceit.

When the body of a climber is discovered on Everest after an earthquake jostles it loose, it's assumed to be that of Brighton Hollis, a 24-year-old woman who disappeared on the mountain three years ago.  Her family—wealthy and very well-connected—wants to be sure it's her.  Enter Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist who examines bones discovered in both Charlotte, North Carolina, and Montreal.  Her job is "simple": identify the remains.  But what she finds is much, much more complicated.  According to evidence on the battered corpse, Brighton Hollis didn't die from exposure or frostbite or an accidental fall.  She was murdered.

As Tempe helps the police investigate Brighton's death, she learns that plenty of people had it in for the young climber.  In fact, every member of her climbing team had reason to want her dead.  Did one of them kill her, using Everest's extreme nature to cover up their crime?  Or is someone else responsible for her brutal murder?  Tempe needs to figure out what really happened to Brighton—and fast—or hers could be the next body lying on a gurney at the swanky new Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner facility.

Everyone knows I'm a huge Temperance Brennan fan (book version, not Bones version).  I've read every book in Kathy Reichs' popular series starring the dedicated forensic anthropologist.  While I've raved about many of them, ho-hummed over others, I always learn something from them.  Reichs knows how to explain the complexities of forensic science in a way that is clear and engaging without insulting the reader's intelligence.  Then, there's our heroine.  Tempe, who is smart, funny, devoted, and self-deprecating is the kind of character that always speaks to me.  I adore her, as well as all her quirky colleagues.  Of course, Reichs' novels also offer tons of action, suspense, and mystery to keep the reader engaged.

So, yeah, it's a given that I'm going to enjoy—at least to some degree—every book Reichs writes about Tempe.  Still, I found Bones on Ice (a novella that fits between Bones Never Lie and Speaking in Bones) to be especially intriguing.  Knowing nothing at all about mountain climbing or Mt. Everest, I was riveted by every detail Reichs included, from the descriptions of climbing culture to the heartbreaking idea of a mountain littered with the bodies of dead dreamers.  Learning about the methods use to examine a frozen corpse was likewise fascinating.  Naturally, the novella also has lots of action, intriguing characters, and sparks flying between Tempe and her cohorts.  Reichs blends all of these elements into a tight, engrossing story that kept me thoroughly entertained.  Although Bones On Ice is not a full-length novel, it's still one of the best installments in the series.  My mind and heart are still haunted by the sobering images of Everest Reichs planted in my head ...

(Readalikes:  Other books in the Temperance Brennan series [Deja Dead; Death Du Jour; Deadly Decisions; Fatal Voyage; Grave Secrets; Bare Bones; Monday Mourning; Cross Bones; Break No Bones; Bones to Ashes; Devil Bones; 206 Bones; Spider Bones; Flash and Bones; Bones Are Forever; Bones in Her Pocket; Bones of the Lost; Swamp Bones; Bones Never Lie; and Speaking in Bones])

Grade: