Berman: How was the book found? And what has happened in the months since it was found?

Burnham: It was found in this safe location near Harper Lee’s home. It was attached to an original copy of the manuscript of To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee’s lawyer and friend, Tonja Carter, discovered it, sort of picked up the manuscript and flipped through it and then saw that some of the scenes and characters in the book had no relation to Mockingbird and realized it was actually two different books. This was the first time the manuscript had been found since heaven-knows-when. Harper Lee lost track of it in the '60s.

Berman: What was Tonja Carter looking for when she found it? Was she looking for that or did she just stumble upon it?

Burnham: She stumbled upon it. As I said, she was checking on the state of being on the original, very valuable manuscript of To Kill A Mockingbird. And it had become affixed to the back of that manuscript. It was an accident.

Berman: What was Harper Lee’s reaction when she was told it had been found?

Burnham: She was thrilled. She believed it to have been lost. She was delighted it was found. She’s always been a self-critical writer, so she shared it with some close friends and advisers, and they told her that it was extremely and eminently publishable. So she was thrilled. She’s very much engaged in the process, and she’s happy that it’s coming out. She knows that today’s the announcement date. She won’t be doing publicity for the book. She never has done—well, she hasn’t done any interviews since 1964, so that probably won’t change.

Berman: Obviously she is a very private person, often described as reclusive. Did she need any convincing to publish it knowing that it would bring a whole new round of personal attention on her?

Burnham: That did not seem to concern her too much. She is very private. She’s protected. It’s unlikely that the media will invade her private space, and I think she can enjoy this, as it were, from a slight distance.

Berman: How is her health? She has been living in an assisted living facility and has been described as mostly deaf and blind. Can you describe any more about her engagement in this process?

Burnham: Well I can only report that her agent spent a couple of days with her in January down in Alabama and described her to us as feisty and full of good spirits. She’s a fanatical reader. She reads all the time. She just started reading a biography of Queen Victoria by A.N. Wilson—just embarked on. So, no, she’s in fine fettle, by reports.

Berman: What condition was the manuscript found in? Was it completely finished or was there anything that needed to be done by her or anyone else to get it ready for publication?

Burnham: It is completely finished. It needs virtually no editing. The only editing I think it needs is perhaps a light copy edit. It looks to me like a book that’s been worked on and polished, and is very much a finished thing. So it’s not going to go through any extensive editorial process.