Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Putting aside the ethics of posthumously

publishing a writer's unpublished work for a second, it's interesting what you can learn from

what a writer ultimately shelved. There's a new collection out now of Harper Lee's previously

unpublished early short stories titled The Land of Sweet Forever.

It was edited by Casey Sepp, who told here and now as Peter O'Dow that you can really

see Lee's growth as a writer through these stories.

But it was also important for Sepp to include Lee's later essays in this collection

to show the full breadth of Lee as a writer and a person.

That's after the break.

New short stories from one of America's most beloved authors were published this week.

The Land of Sweet Forever by Harper Lee includes eight stories written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning

author after she moved to New York City in 1949 and a decade before she wrote to kill a mockingbird.

With these stories, Harper Lee introduces readers to early versions of her two most famous characters from the best-selling novel, Scout and her father, Atticus.

Here they are in a scene from the 1962 film adaptation.

Scott. Yeah. Here they are in a scene from the 1962 film adaptation. You know what a compromise is?

Been in the law?

No, it's an agreement reached by mutual consent.

Casey SEP is staff writer at the New Yorker and editor of the new collection.

Casey, it's so good to speak with you because what a thrill it must have been to come across these unpublished stories from Harper Lee.

Where were they found and what condition were they in?

Yeah, thanks so much for having me. And since I count myself among Harper Lee, where were they found and in what condition were they in? Yeah, thanks so much for having me. And since I count myself among Harper Lee's biggest fans, it truly was thrilling.

I know there are a lot of folks who, you know, read Ghost at a Watchman and have been wondering

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