She was a single mom living on state benefits
J.K. Rowling is a household name who has created an entirely new world for her readers and fans. It’s hard to imagine a world before Harry Potter, but believe it or not, such a world really does exist.
In fact, before Rowling was famous, she was a single mom living on state benefits in Edinburgh, Scotland. And you might be surprised to find out more about what her life looked like back then.
She wrote 'Harry Potter' on a napkin
She wrote the first part of Harry Potter on a napkin while taking a train from Manchester, England, to London in 1990. Yes, for real.
She wrote this book to prove her sister wrong
Rowling’s sister Dianne actually laughed at her when Rowling first had her read the initial chapters of Harry Potter.
“It’s possible that if she hadn’t laughed, I would have set the whole thing on one side,” Rowling said of the encounter.
She lost her mother to multiple sclerosis only six months into writing
She lost her mother to multiple sclerosis only six months into writing Harry Potter. Her experience inspired the loss of a certain young man’s parents in the book, too.
She dated a journalist named Jorge Arantes
She left Great Britain to get a literal fresh start. After her mother’s death in 1990, Rowling moved to Portugal, where she taught English classes.
While in Portugal, Rowling dated a journalist named Jorge Arantes and moved in with him and his mother.
She had a miscarriage
Sadly, after becoming pregnant with Arantes’ baby, Rowling miscarried. Arantes proposed to Rowling in 1992.
Her marriage lasted 13 months and one day
Rowling married Arantes in October 1992 (pictured with his mother) and gave birth to their daughter, Jessica, in July 1993. The marriage lasted 13 months and one day.
She got divorced
After the marriage ended in November 1993, Rowling fell on harder times when she moved back to the U.K. “I never expected to mess up so badly that I would find myself in an unheated, mouse-infested flat, looking after my daughter,” Rowling said. “And I was angry because I felt I was letting her down.”
She couldn't even afford to pay her own rent
Rowling was so poor she couldn’t even afford to pay her own rent, and a friend actually paid the almost $1,200 rent bill for her.
She had suicidal thoughts
Completely broke, with an infant that relied on her, Rowling fell into a deep, dark depression and considered taking her own life.
“We’re talking suicidal thoughts here, we’re not talking ‘I’m a little bit miserable,'” Rowling said.
At that low point, Rowling says her baby girl was the only thing that stopped her from committing suicide. “She was something that earthed me, grounded me, and I thought, this isn’t right, this can’t be right, she cannot grow up with me in this state,” she told a reporter.
She had ยฃ68 to live on a week
She had ยฃ68 (about $88) to live on a week and made another ยฃ15 (not even $20) in addition to those benefits.
She didn't eat so her daughter could
“I remember 20 years ago not eating so my daughter would eat. I remember nights when there was literally no money,” she told The Daily Mail.
She couldn't even afford food at the cafe when she wrote 'Harry Potter'
While many people know that Rowling wrote Harry Potter in cafes with her baby in a stroller next to her, they may not realize that she couldn’t even afford food at the cafe. She ordered only one cup of coffee during many of her writing sessions, just so they wouldn’t kick her out.
She could only work on her book when her baby was asleep
Like many parents who can only be productive when their child is sleeping, Rowling once said she would push her baby in a stroller until she fell asleep and then literally run to the nearest cafe to write until she woke up again.
