Pictures, description, date for JKR's episode of 'Who Do You Think You Are?'
J.K. Rowling is to appear on the BBC's 'Who Do You Think You Are?' program, which explores the ancestry of celebrities, on August 17th. The BBC released pictures of the moment that JKR broke down seeing some of the discoveries.
And The Telegraph revealed some details about what was uncovered in the show:
The novelist learnt during her research for the programme that her great-grandmother, Lizzie, her great-great-grandmother, Salomé, and her great-great-great-grandmother, Christine, raised their children alone.
Her maternal grandmother, Louisa, is also believed to have been born out of wedlock.
Rowling, whose personal wealth is thought to be half a billion pounds, wrote the first book of the Harry Potter series following her divorce while living on benefits in a cold Edinburgh flat with her baby daughter. The experience left her clinically depressed.
“What I’m very struck by is how many single mothers I’m descended from in this line of the family,” she said in an interview for the programme.
“Twenty years ago, I was teaching and writing in my spare time and was very skint. And not long after that, I became a single mum, so I feel the connection.”Thanks to Hypable.com for this.
Jul
25
The Harry Potter fandom and the publishing world had a big surprise earlier this month when The Sunday Times revealed that a little known book called The Cuckoo’s Calling, supposedly written by début author Robert Galbraith, was in fact the work of the one-and-only J.K. Rowling!
The crime novel was published in April and garnered some rave reviews before the outing of the real author. The news spread like wildfire and its modest sales skyrocketed, sending it straight to the top of bestseller lists.
Some speculated whether it was all a clever marketing strategy by the publisher, but the real story was soon revealed: a partner at a legal firm working with Rowling on the novel had told his wife about the true identity of Robert Galbraith, who disclosed it to her friend, who then informed a Sunday Times journalist.
Get the whole story »
Jul
25
In March we heard the very sad news that Vernon Dursley actor Richard Griffiths had passed away at the age 65 following complications from heart surgery.
Richard was born in Yorkshire, the son of a steelworker and a seamstress, and went on to become a successful stage and screen actor, becoming well known for another uncle role, Uncle Monty in Withnail and I, and winning a Laurence Olivier award and a Tony award for his part in the play The History Boys.
Following his death in hospital in Coventry, tributes flooded from his Harry Potter colleagues and the wider world, and his funeral was attended by over 300 people.
Note: we’ve had a hiatus on this site for several months, meaning this news did not get reported, but we felt it appropriate to finally post it here. We wish Richard’s family and friends well as they continue to deal with the loss of a very well-loved man.
Sep
27
JK Rowling’s new book for adults The Casual Vacancy, her first novel since Harry Potter, hit store shelves throughout the world this morning!
With millions of pre-orders and most critics so far giving it favourable reviews, it looks like the book is going to be a resounding success. (Did anyone ever doubt that?) Congratulations to Jo in this new stage of her amazing career. We look forward to reading it!
Here is a great picture from the Waterstones bookshop in Oxford Street:
The Harry Potter fandom and the publishing world had a big surprise earlier this month when The Sunday Times revealed that a little known book called The Cuckoo’s Calling, supposedly written by début author Robert Galbraith, was in fact the work of the one-and-only J.K. Rowling!
