--- description: It is disappointing and frankly shameful to see our noble industry parade and celebrate this as “Harper Lee’s New Novel." title: Michigan Bookstore Offers Refunds For "Go Set a Watchman" image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c3645b5720b368a/69885b74a988ca445a6b382d/go-set-watchman-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Books](/tag/books/) ## Books Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Michigan Bookstore Offers 'Refunds and Apologies' for _Go Set a Watchman_  by [Tanya Basu](/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 4, 2015 5:00 PM CUT  Harper Lee's "new" novel "Go Set a Watchman". Harper Lee's "new" novel "Go Set a Watchman".Portland Press Herald/Getty Images  by [Tanya Basu](/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 4, 2015 5:00 PM CUT A Michigan bookstore is offering “refunds and apologies” for _Go Set a Watchman_ after calling it a “nice summer novel.” “We suggest you view this work as an academic insight rather than as a nice summer novel,” the bookstore, Brilliant Books, [said in an online statement](http://www.brilliant-books.net/go-set-watchman-opinion-piece "undefined"). _Go Set a Watchman_, Harper Lee’s sequel to her only other work, _To Kill a Mockingbird_, has been piled with [criticism](http://time.com/3956964/go-set-a-watchman-twitter/ "undefined") after readers found the book did not match the quality of its predecessor. Negative reviews haven’t stopped the book from selling out, though; within a week of release, _Watchman_ [had sold more than a million copies](http://time.com/3964588/harper-lee-watchman-million-seller/ "undefined"). Brilliant Books compared Lee’s new book to James Joyce’s _Stephen Hero_, a book that was never pitched as a mainstream novel. “_Hero_ was initially rejected, and Joyce reworked it into the classic _Portrait,_” the store explained in its statement. “_Hero_ was eventually released as an academic piece for scholars and fans—not as a new ‘Joyce novel.’ We would have been delighted to see _Go Set A Watchman_ receive a similar fate.” The bookstore’s owner, Peter Makin, only recently decided to offer refunds after speaking to a “loyal” customer who felt deceived and only recently found out about the controversial history of the book, [according to ](http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/04/us-bookshop-offering-refunds-for-go-set-a-watchman-harper-lee "undefined")[_The Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/04/us-bookshop-offering-refunds-for-go-set-a-watchman-harper-lee "undefined")_._ “It is disappointing and frankly shameful to see our noble industry parade and celebrate this as ‘Harper Lee’s New Novel,'” Brilliant Books said. “This is pure exploitation of both literary fans and a beloved American classic (which we hope has not been irrevocably tainted).” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3983793/bookstore-refund-go-set-a-watchman/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3983793/bookstore-refund-go-set-a-watchman/"},"headline":"Michigan Bookstore Offers 'Refunds and Apologies' for Go Set a Watchman","datePublished":"2015-08-04T17:00:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:52:55.671Z","description":"\"This is pure exploitation of both literary fans and a beloved American classic\"","url":"https://time.com/3983793/bookstore-refund-go-set-a-watchman/","keywords":["Books","To Kill a Mockingbird","Harper Lee"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c3645b5720b368a/69885b74a988ca445a6b382d/go-set-watchman-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tanya Basu","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c3645b5720b368a/69885b74a988ca445a6b382d/go-set-watchman-cover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Harper Lee's \"new\" novel \"Go Set a Watchman\".","caption":"Harper Lee's \"new\" novel \"Go Set a Watchman\".","creditText":"Portland Press Herald/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3983793/bookstore-refund-go-set-a-watchman/","name":"Michigan Bookstore Offers 'Refunds and Apologies' for Go Set a Watchman"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"'Go Set A Watchman' Sparks Collective Freakout Among Critics","description":"Early reviews are in for Harper Lee's 'Go Set a Watchman,' and critics are freaking out about the new, segregation-supporting Atticus Finch.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/sul1sl2p/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-14T12:38:30.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/sul1sl2p.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3983793/bookstore-refund-go-set-a-watchman/","duration":"PT1M44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3983793/bookstore-refund-go-set-a-watchman/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```