Harper Lee 'Happy as Hell' About 'To Kill a Mockingbird' Sequel

— -- Legendary author Harper Lee couldn't be happier that her second novel is finally coming out.

HarperCollins issued a statement today, saying the 88-year-old is in fact as "happy as hell" about her new novel "Go Set a Watchman," reports The Associated Press.

The "To Kill a Mockingbird" author gave the statement to HarperCollins via her attorney Tonja Carter, who said Lee "is alive and kicking and happy as hell with the reactions of 'Watchman,'" referring to those who might have thought the author had passed.

Her original classic came out almost 55 years ago in 1960 and the world was shocked when it was announced that after all this time, a second book was coming from Lee. The publisher added that all communications on the new book have been through Lee's lawyer and literary agent Andrew Nurnberg.

"Go Set a Watchman," is set to be released on July 14 in a 2-million copy run.

Lee, a Pulitzer Prize winner, wrote "Go Set a Watchman," which is 304 pages long, in the 1950s. There will be familiar characters you know from "To Kill a Mockingbird."

According to an earlier statement issued by HarperCollins, the book's publisher, Lee 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... from the point of view of the young Scout."

In "Go Set a Watchman," Scout returns to Maycomb, Alabama to visit her father, Atticus, where she is, "forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand her father's attitude toward society, and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood," Lee's statement added.