Good news for fans of one of the most seminal books of our time:

Harper Lee, author of the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, is to publish a second book 55 years after her debut.

Her publisher, Harper, announced that the second book, Go Set a Watchman, will be released on 14 July.

The book is described as essentially a sequel for To Kill a Mockingbird, and was completed just a few years after the seminal novel – but the manuscript lay forgotten until recently.

Harper said they will print an initial run of two million copies as they expect huge demand for the book, which they described as a “remarkable literary event”.

“In the mid-1950s, I completed a novel called Go Set a Watchman,” the 88-year-old 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 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 realised 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.”

Harper said the plot of the book involves Scout returning to Maycomb from New York to visit her father, Atticus Finch.

A spokesperson added: “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.”

Remember the NJ Economic Development Authority that okayed the quasi-campaign ad “Stronger Than The Storm”? The CEO was one Michele Brown, who is one of Chris Christie’s “close advisors” (wink, wink) and wherever he goes, she goes.

So I’m not all that surprised that she’s the new CEO of Choose New Jersey, the group that just sponsored Christie’s campaign — I’m sorry, trade trip –to the U.K.

But it’s always fun to see Democrats grow a spine:

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked Republicans from taking up a bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security but roll back the President Obama’s recent executive actions on immigration, setting up a showdown over the agency — and the administration’s immigration policies — before money for the department runs out at the end of the month.

Senate Republicans had hoped to take up House-passed legislation that would fund the department through the fiscal year. But the $40 billion spending bill also would revoke legal protections for as many as five million undocumented immigrants, including children. Democrats said that was unacceptable and Mr. Obama has promised a veto of any legislation that guts his executive immigration actions.

Republicans blamed Democrats for using a procedural maneuver to block the bill from coming to the Senate floor. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, warned that the president had executed a partisan “power grab” on immigration.

But Congressional Republicans now find themselves scrambling to fund the agency before it runs out of money on Feb. 27, while also placating their most conservative members, who believe the president has overstepped his constitutional authority and that the homeland security bill is their best leverage to fight back.