THE RAGS TO RICHES STORY OF THE FANTASY QUEEN

We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already.  – J. K. Rowling

Joanne K. Rowling, the author of the book which is the best selling book in history, was the first billionaire author in the world. Harry Potter is today more famous than even many celebrities and has movies, theme parks, and what not made after him. The wildly popular Harry Potter series saw several thousand children and adults dressed in wizard costumes cueing up in the wee hours of the morning just to get a copy of the book every single time a new installment was launched. It has sold a whopping 500 million copies and still counting, and the author is estimated to have a fortune of 600 million British pounds as per the Sunday Times Rich list 2016. But her journey to stardom was not Rosie by any chance, so what’s her story?

Rowling now 53 was born into a normal family in Gloucestershire England and grew up alongside her mother, father, and sister. Her teenage years were not happy as her mother was battling Multiple Sclerosis through that period and in an unfortunate turn of events, she lost her life when Rowling was just 25 years old. This was deeply saddening to a daughter who loved her mom dearly, had a strained relationship with her father and just with a sister by her side was virtually left alone in life. In an attempt to move on, she moved to Portugal and got married to a man she loved. Very soon, she had a daughter in her life but unfortunately, her marriage was on the rocks by then. The reason for the separation: domestic violence by her husband. She subsequently returned to England with her daughter and was as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless. Her only valuable possessions were her daughter, an old typewriter, and a big idea.

Whilst battling clinical depression and living her life merely on state benefits, she put her heart and soul into completing the first book of the Harry Potter series. She wrote for hours, days, months, and years in a Scottish Cafe while cradling her baby in a pram nearby and the story was finally over, but the dark story of her life was still to continue for some more time. She sent her manuscript to several publishing houses to secure a publishing deal for what was her dream project. Unfortunately for her, not one, not two but a total of 12 publishers rejected her manuscript only to add to her distress. The sun finally shone on Rowling’s life in June 1997 when Bloomsbury UK published her fantasy fiction for the world to read. This was the official start of J.K. Rowling’s upward journey to the pinnacle of the literary world. Having seen both sides of life J.K. Rowling once quoted these three powerful lines that can influence your lives for the better and I would like to end this article by reiterating them. “It is not possible to live life without failing at something”, “ happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, only if one remembers to turn on the lights” and “We do not need magic to transform our world, we carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already”.

Written By: Namrata Munoth, Writer