Harper Lee acquaintances claim author 'manipulated' into publishing new book

To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee's mental acuity has, by some accounts, diminished greatly as the 88-year-old writer aged. And with the surprise announcement that Lee will release a sequel to her iconic book this summer, decades after she published her first and only novel, that question has again resurfaced.

To wit, AL.com reported Thursday that "four people who knew Lee to varying degrees and live in or just outside the town where Lee has lived most of her life" claim the author may have been coerced into agreeing to release the new book, Go Set a Watchman. Here's cafe owner Janet Sawyer, who said she served Lee and her sister for years:

In 2011, Lee's older sister wrote that Harper, "can't see and can't hear and will sign anything put before her by anyone in whom she has confidence."

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