JK Rowling has spoken at the premiere of her ‘podcast‘, ‘The Witch Trials’, about the mistreatment she suffered at the hands of her ex-husband, Jorge Arantes. The author of the saga of the famous magician has revealed that she feared that Arantes burn the manuscript from the first book in the series, ‘Harry potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ and that he had to secretly photocopy the pages of the work in small batches.
The British writer has not hesitated to describe the relationship with her ex-husband as violent and controlling and has stated that he also tried to lock up the manuscript to prevent her from leaving him.
“At that point I searched my bag every time I came home. I had no key from my own house because he had to control the front door. And I think he is not a stupid person. I think he knew, or suspected, that he was going to try escape again”, Rowling has detailed in the ‘podcast’, according to ‘The Guardian’.
The writer and Arantes met more than 30 years ago in a Porto bar where Rowling taught English and discovered their common passion for Jane Austen. They married shortly thereafter, but their marriage only lasted 13 months. The author has stated on several occasions that she, at that time, suffered psychological and physical mistreatment. Arantes has also recognized that the discussions were rising in tone and that he gave him two slaps and that he did not regret it.
Rowling indicates that during those days he lived in “a horrible state of tension” because he had to hide his intentions to leave the family home. “And yet the manuscript kept growing. I kept writing. In fact, he knew what that manuscript meant to me because at one point he took it and hid it“.
Increasingly determined to leave, “she took a few pages of the manuscript to work every day – just a few so that he didn’t realize that something was missing– and photocopied them. And, little by little, in a cupboard in the staff room, the photocopied work grew and grew and grew, because he suspected that if he couldn’t get away with everything, he would burn it or take it or take it hostage.” The author, who was pregnant with her eldest daughter, has indicated, apart from her daughter, that manuscript it was the only thing he wanted to save in his flight.
transphobia
In the ‘podcast’, Rowling had a dialogue with Megan Phelps-Roper, a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church, known for her controversial comments and her frequent protests against the LGBT community and other marginalized communities. Regarding the accusations of transphobia that hang over the author of Harry Potter, she has stated that she is not concerned about how the controversy that surrounds her will affect her legacy and that anyone who thinks so has misinterpreted “deeply”.
“I don’t walk around my house thinking about my legacy,” he continued. “What a pompous way to live your life, walking around thinking, what will my legacy be? I don’t care, I’ll be dead. I care about now. I care about the living.”