Despite a fair amount of controversy this week regarding the release of the sequel to Go Set a Watchman, a press release says Harper Lee is “happy as hell” about the book.

The statement came from Lee’s attorney Tonja Carter, who said that Lee is “alive and kicking and happy as hell with the reactions of 'Watchman.'” Though Carter is dealing with Lee directly about this, publisher HarperCollins said they haven’t actually met with the author.

On Tuesday, HarperCollins announced that they would be releasing a sequel to Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, entitled Go Set a Watchman. The book takes place 20 years after the events of the original novel, following Scout as an adult who visits her hometown and reflects upon her experiences there.

The novel was actually written before To Kill a Mockingbird, but Lee’s editor told her she liked the flashback scenes in Go Set a Watchman and recommended Lee write a whole book on Scout as a child. She did, and To Kill a Mockingbird was born.

It was a pretty shocking announcement, and it generated a fair amount of controversy when it was reported that Lee is in poor health and may not truly want the book to be released, as we previously reported. This new press release conflicts with that speculation. Lee's international agent Andrew Nurnberg also said he met with Lee and said she was in great spirits and excited about the release of the novel, as we previously reported.

Go Set a Watchman will be released on July 14th.