Witherspoon to read Harper Lee audio book

Actress Reese Witherspoon has signed on to narrate the audio version of the year's hottest book, Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee.

The unabridged audio version will be released simultaneously with the book on July 14 by Caedmon Audio, an imprint of HarperAudio. Witherspoon is set to hit the recording studio this month.

Lee's new novel, written in the 1950s but recently rediscovered, is a sequel to her classic To Kill a Mockingbird.

"As a Southerner, it is an honor and privilege to give voice to the Southern characters who inspired my childhood love of reading, Scout and Atticus Finch," Witherspoon said in a statement. "I am eager for readers to be transported to a pivotal time in American history in the manner that only Harper Lee's gorgeous prose can deliver."

Witherspoon, 39, who was born in New Orleans, is a book lover who has brought some of her favorite recent titles to the big screen. She starred in and was a producer on Wild and a producer of Gone Girl. Along with Nicole Kidman, Witherspoon has optioned Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies, in development for TV.

She also posts on Instagram books she's reading, including the current smash hit The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (No. 2 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list) and Anthony Doerr's best seller All the Light We Cannot See (she posted about Doerr's book before it won the Pulitzer Prize this week).

This is the first time she has narrated an audio book.

"The publication of Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman is the literary event of the year, and Reese Witherspoon's extraordinary talent and Southern roots make her the perfect narrator," says Sean McManus of HarperAudio.