A new biography of J. K. Rowling is badly needed. J.K. Rowling: A Biography by Sean Smith provides an accessible, heavily detailed, but structurally simplistic look at the author’s meteorological rise. First published in 2001, Sean Smith’s unauthorized account focuses deeply on the trials and tribulations Rowling faced before finding global success with Harry Potter. Because his work functions as a time capsule from the very beginning of her career, it misses more than two decades of monumental shifts in her professional and personal life.

My copy of Smith’s book bears the dents and battle scars of being hurled across the room when the reference I’m looking for proves to be missing or inaccurate. There are some howlers such as the lower second class honours that Rowling gained at Exeter are translated into an incomprehensible (for British readers) 2.2 Grade Point Average, and Rowling’s parents being posted to a Commando base at Arbroath (as it is now), not the Royal Naval Air Station technical training base (as it was then).

As John Granger pointed out when the new biography by Solomon Schmidt was announced, he is very young, and his publisher seems to specialise in controversial books by, among others, Woody Allen, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. This lefty socialist was not filled with confidence. Although Mr Schmidt sent me a very polite mail, I didn’t engage with him.

My reticence seemed to be confirmed when stories were placed in the gutter press to drum up publicity for the new book:

National Enquirer: J. K. Rowling’s Dad Sold Signed ‘Harry Potter’ Copy After She ‘Told Him to Go Pound Sand’

New York Post: JK Rowling’s father ‘ran illegal cannabis operation’ from secret cellar in house

In the later article Rowling’s cousin Ben is quoted as saying “When Pete was visiting me at one point in 1997, he told me that over the previous few years, he had been one of the largest growers of marijuana in South West England and Wales”. As someone who was a young man in Wales in 1997, I can confirm you would need a fair size farm to be one of the largest growers in the South West, not a few square feet of cold store designed to keep milk cool, when Church Cottage was a schoolhouse.

My worst fears seemingly confirmed, I was surprised when Solomon offered me a copy to review ahead of the publication at the end of June. The copy was electronic so I couldn’t even have the satisfaction of hurling it across the room…

In order to give A Pen to Change the World a fair review, I gave myself the following criteria, any one of which would be a valuable addition to the Rowling literature. If it fails all three tests, then save your money:

1. A synthesis of all the available information we have about Rowling’s life brought up to the present date. This needs to be impartial, its okay to be sceptical and even critical, as long as the sources are presented fairly. This doesn’t need to be absolutely complete (impossible in a single volume), but should at least give a fair representation of what we know.
2. Present new information, impeccably sourced, to known (not anonymous) people who’s lives have intersected with J.K. Rowling.
3. Work as a piece of literature. The life of J. K. Rowling is extraordinary. If that life can be presented in an engaging way, and be a joy to read, without ‘fictionalising’ her life, this would still be a valuable book even if the above goals can’t be met.

A Synthesis of all the Available Information

A Pen to Change the World is wonderfully comprehensive, with material that has been made available after the Smith biography, woven cleverly into the narrative both pre and post Potter. All of the sources are included in an appendix of some 91 pages and referenced to each line and page of the biography. Solomon did not need to do this; most writers would have been happy with the five-page bibliography and links to extensive article and AV citations. What this does provide is an invaluable tool for researchers. A source list presented in a chronology of J. K. Rowling’s life, that will save very much time for anyone interested in looking for biographical reflections in Rowling’s works.

There are some surprising omissions. The astrological duo Starsky and Cox, that J. K. met and befriended during her year in Paris do not get a mention. But these are very few and far between, and I do bear in mind that the Hogwarts Professor interest in Rowling’s astrology might be somewhat niche.

It is Solomon’s credit that I could tell from the text what his politics biases might be. As a social minded liberal, what in the UK is called a centrist, in the later chapters there are parts of the biography I found troubling. I feel confident that would be true for everyone, no matter their political persuasion, because wherever a conflict is discussed, the author has presented both sides neutrally, and in the protagonist’s own voice.

***** Neutral, comprehensive and excellently sourced.

Present New Information

Although the biography is unauthorised by J. K. Rowling herself, Solomon Schmidt has gained access to some well-known names in Rowling’s life: Jorge Arantes, Barry Cunningham (the publisher who signed J. K. Rowling to Bloomsbury), Steve Eddy (Rowling’s English teacher), Ben Rowling and Bryony Rowling.

The revelations published in the press, at the time of writing, have come from the last two. Ben and Bryony are her American cousins, and their stories seem to be presented honestly. Where there are discrepancies with the possible (I’m wording this delicately) this could be due to the fanciful reminiscences of childhood or the hyperbole of Peter over a few drinks. I find it likely that Peter did grow marijuana, but it would only be enough for home consumption (perhaps initially to alleviate Anne’s symptoms of MS) and perhaps for a few friends in the Pub.

For students of J. K. Rowling’s lake there are a few more revelations that I have agreed not to mention prior to publication, but I eagerly look forward to discussing after that time.

**** New information has been published, and while I don’t think there is anything there to set the world on fire, Solomon is to be congratulated for finding what he has.

Work as a piece of literature.

This book is beautifully written. For the first few chapters I tried to keep track of the source material by keeping the book open to the appendix on one table while reading the text with another but abandoned this to concentrate on the story. The prose complements the shades of light and dark without being overly intrusive. A few times Solomon inserts some sentences to evoke the time and place without it appearing padded. In fact, the straightforward style can appear sparse at times but helps what is a very complex life clip along at pace. Uniquely, this biography has made it to my to-be-re-read list and not just as a reference volume.

***** A wonderfully written story, that works as a very immersive read.

Conclusion *****

I have no hesitation in recommending this book to any Rowling fans and scholars. In fact, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good story well told. The importance of A Pen to Change the World to future scholars is thanks to its voluminous citations, new references to never before documented interviews and scrupulous impartiality. The reason for it to likely enjoy widespread popularity will be down to J. K. Rowling being one of the centuries great lives. It is a life that deserves a biography of the standard of Solomon Schmidt. 5/5 Stars

There are few English words-about-words as fun as the Greek derived ‘onomatopoeic,’ ‘name-making’ literally, ‘word that sounds like its meaning’ in common use. ‘Buzz’ and ‘Hiss’ come immediately to mind. ‘chuckle,’ ‘grunt,’ and ‘snore’ are personal favorites (see this site for a list of 150 others). It’s a shame that onomatopoeic does not sound like its meaning but, in being something of a tongue twister and spelling-bee challenge-round item, at least it has an exotic feel appropriate to its subject. According to traditional lore, the names given to things in the Garden of Eden by Adam, primordial Man as Image of God, all reflected the beings named in their sound.

I confess that I assumed the word for barely magical witches and wizards born into magical families in J. K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, the folk she calls ‘Squibs,’ were given that name because of its onomatopoeic source in fireworks; per the Harry Potter Lexicon invaluable online resource, a squib is English idiom for “a dud firework that will not ignite properly.” It sounds like its meaning (as does “dud”) and a reader can feel in it the disappointment of magical parents when their child turns out not to have the gift that will make them full members of their community.

I learned this morning, however, that a squib is not a dud firework, or wasn’t originally though it may have that meaning today, and that it is mentioned more than once in one of Rowling’s known literary influences.

I subscribe to Dimitra Fimi’s ‘A Kind of Elvish Craft’ Substack site because I am a big fan of her work. She is a first tier scholar, as in ‘Professor of Fantasy and Children’s Literature at the University of Glasgow,’ generous to a fault in answering questions from all quarters, and she is blessed with a delightful sense of humor. Professor Fimi is best known as a leading figure in Tolkien Studies and all things fantasy and mythology but she is also a Serious Striker and Rowling fan. Check out Reading Rowling as Myth Maker and Myth Re-Writer: A Conversation with Dr Dimitra Fimi and ‘Sleep Tight, Evangeline,’ Miniature Psalters, and the Head of Persephone: A Conversation with Dimitra Fimi to discover what a treasure-chest she is for all who want to understand Rowling’s artistry and meaning better.

She has recently embarked on a series of posts about The Lord of the Rings that she calls ‘The Slow LotR Re-Read.’ As she explained in the first post of the series on ‘Tolkien Reading Day:’

This year, I am engaged in a slow (really slow!) re-read of The Lord of the Rings, taking copious notes and ruminating on tiny details. I have, naturally, read The Lord of the Rings numerous times (I used to keep a tally, but I’ve now lost count!). First, for pleasure, then as part of my PhD research, later for teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and to suppport supervision of PhD projects, and again and again as I have worked on various publications (from writing my first Tolkien book, to composing numerous articles and essays over the years, and to offering comments/suggestions to strengthen other scholars’ work during various editorial projects).

So, what makes this read different? Two things. First, it is regular, almost daily. But, secondly, and most importantly, it is very slow. I am reading no more than a page each time, sometimes lingering on one or two paragraphs only. This is, of course, both a luxury and a challenge. The natural instinct of most readers is to read on, to find out what will happen next, to follow the adventures of the protagonist(s) as they unfold over many pages and chapters. Slowing down is difficult. Taking the time to savour every word, sentence, and paragraph, before even getting to the level of pages or chapters, is counter-intuitive. We do it naturally as readers, of course, when we hit a particularly striking sentence, or a memorable turn of phrase, or a “quotable” couple of lines. Then we stop and ponder.

What I am trying to experiment with, though, is doing this stopping and thinking for every word, sentence, and paragraph in The Lord of the Rings. Each time I am pondering Tolkien’s choice of lexis, diction and syntax. I am also ruminating on his craft: his use of dialogue vs. narration, his construction of the narrator’s voice, his gradual fashioning of setting, his deliberate choice of imagery, his devising of characterization, his handling of story vs. plot. And, at the same time, I am stopping to consider details that I have missed before. I am still discovering new things in a text I’ve read so many times, by paying attention to elements of description, or spoken utterances, or tone of voice.

As I begin my slow-re-read of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone for a book whose chapters will be posted at the Hogwarts Professor Substack page, I confess to being simultaneously excited and intimidated by Professor Fimi’s project. But I’m reading every entry in this series closely, though only a Tolkien casual reader and admirer, because there is gold in each slow-reading she does. And the occasional delightful find for a Rowling Re-Reader!

This morning it was in Dr Fimi’s reflections on The Fireworks of Gandalf. It turns out that a ‘Squib’ is not a dud firework or wasn’t originally: [Read more…]

And extra yuletide conversation…

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Yesterday, in one of J. K. Rowling’s regular forays in to the sex and gender debate revealed that she was born with a genetic blood disorder:

I was born with a bleeding disorder. That doesn’t make me a new variety of human. I don’t feel ‘less than’ people without it, but nor does my bleeding disorder mean an inability to clot should be considered an innate attribute of the human species. I inherited an unusual physical anomaly. Nature made a mistake.

It is tempting to remember Roy Phipps from Troubled Blood also has a genetic blood condition – von Willebrand Disease.

‘What’s von Willebrand Disease?’ asked Robin.

‘A bleeding disorder. I looked it up. You don’t clot properly. Gupta remembered that wrong; he thought Roy was a haemophiliac.

‘There are three kinds of von Willebrand Disease,’ said Strike. ‘Type One just means you’d take a bit longer than normal to clot, but it shouldn’t leave you bedbound, or unable to drive. I’m assuming Roy Phipps is Type Three, which can be as serious as haemophilia, and could lay him up for a while. But we’ll need to check that.

Troubled Blood, Chapter 14

If Rowling does have von Willebrand Disease, it isn’t that uncommon. It is the most common hereditary blood clotting disorder in humans, affecting 1% of the population. In terms of lake inspiration, perhaps it is time to take a second look at both the title of Troubled Blood and the blood malediction featuring in both Cursed Child and Fantastic Beasts.