J.K. Rowling Claims Her Ex Held ‘Harry Potter’ Manuscript ‘Hostage’

During the first episode of “Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling,” the author opened up about her abusive marriage with her ex-husband. She claimed that her former husband, Jorge Arantes, had hidden her Harry Potter manuscript to prevent her from running away from him. The world’s most successful author had a toxic marriage with Arantes. It lasted from 1992 to 1995. 

Rowling stated that at one point, the marriage had turned highly violent. In spite of the poor situation at home, Rowling continued to write and the manuscript “grew and grew” in a cupboard at her office. The author explained that she used to take a few pages of the Harry Potter manuscript to her office at a time so that Arantes “wouldn’t realize anything was missing.” And she did this so that she could photocopy the few pages she took to the office. Rowling had suspected that if she didn’t get out with all the pages of the manuscript, Arantes would burn the entire thing. Rowling also said that Arantes knew what it meant to her at that point in life. 

The author stated that the manuscript “still meant so much” to her. The only other thing she had made a priority in her life (beyond the Harry Potter manuscript) during those turbulent times was her daughter, Jessica Rowling Arantes. Jessica is now 29.

Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, the first book in the entire series, was published in 1997. Six more books about the boy wizard and his friends followed suit. The books shot to fame, and Rowling became the first billionaire author.