Story highlights Harper Lee's new novel is "Go Set a Watchman"

The book will be her first since 1960's "To Kill a Mockingbird"

(CNN) Fifty-five years after "To Kill a Mockingbird," Harper Lee is publishing a second book, her publisher said Tuesday.

"Go Set a Watchman," which Lee completed in the 1950s and then set aside in favor of "Mockingbird," will be published July 14. It follows Scout, the little girl of "Mockingbird," as an adult.

The manuscript was rediscovered last year, Lee, 88, said in a statement from her publisher, Harper.

"In the mid-1950s, I completed a novel called 'Go Set a Watchman,' " she said. "It features the character known as Scout as an adult woman, and I thought it a pretty decent effort. My editor, who was taken by the flashbacks to Scout's childhood, persuaded me to write a novel (what became 'To Kill a Mockingbird') from the point of view of the young Scout.

"I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told. I hadn't realized it (the original book) had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it. After much thought and hesitation, I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication. I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years."

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