The official synopsis for the new book, titled The Ink Black Heart, reads, “When frantic, disheveled Edie Ledwell appears in the office begging to speak to her, private detective Robin Ellacott doesn’t know quite what to make of the situation. The cocreator of a popular cartoon, The Ink Black Heart, Edie is being persecuted by a mysterious online figure who goes by the pseudonym of Anomie. Edie is desperate to uncover Anomie’s true identity.” According to Rolling Stone, the main character “sees internet trolls and her own fandom turn on her after the cartoon was criticized as being racist and ableist, as well as transphobic for a bit about a hermaphrodite worm.” As you might expect, the internet had a field day with it, sharing their opinion on Rowling’s new book, which was released on Aug. 30. Many saw parallels between the book’s plot and Rowling’s own experiences being criticized as transphobic and racist. Responding to The Telegraph’s post about the book on Twitter, one person simply wrote, “This is so embarrassing lol.” Others joked that Rowling used the book as a way to complain about the criticism she continues to face, despite still making tons of money from her Harry Potter franchise daily. Another commenter wrote, “There’s ‘one must separate the art from the artist’ and then there’s JK Rowling,” pointing out how the new book seems to intertwine Rowling’s own scandals with her story ideas to an intense degree. Someone responded to the tweet by saying, “A level of wise silence seems beyond her.” On a recent episode of The Graham Norton Radio Show, Rowling said that she wanted to “make it really clear after some of the things that have happened the last year that this [novel] is not depicting [my experience].” The criticism surrounding Rowling follows transphobic comments she made, and after facing backlash, ones she continues to stand by. Now, some people see the new novel as the clearest reason for people to fully stop supporting her. On Twitter, @OneVagueMemory wrote, “JK Rowling writing a book about how she gets targeted by people who don’t tolerate her bigotry under the pen name she borrowed from the man who invented anti-LGBTQ conversion therapy, really should put it into perspective for anybody who continues to support her work.” Along with the new book, the tweet references Rowling’s pen name, Robert Galbraith, which is very similar to the name of Robert Galbraith Heath, a psychologist who supported harmful anti-gay conversion therapy, as reported by Newsweek. A source told the publication, “J.K. Rowling wasn’t aware of Robert Galbraith Heath when choosing the pseudonym for her crime novels,” but many people still connect the two. More News:
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