JK Rowling revealed her first husband Jorge Arantes reportedly held her Harry Potter manuscript "hostage"

According to JK Rowling, her first husband Jorge Arantes reportedly attempted to prevent her from leaving him by holding her Harry Potter manuscript "hostage." The controversial author remembered being in a "bad situation" with Arantes, including a "hugely traumatic" miscarriage that left her "not in a balanced state of mind" in the first episode of the Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling podcast, which was released on Tuesday. Furthermore, 57-year-old Rowling described the marriage, which lasted from 1992 to 1995, as: "The situation was a bad situation, but until you actually go through it, you don't know what you would choose to do. I left him twice before I left for good, and then I went back twice." She continued that at that point, her marriage had "turned very violent and very controlling," and that Arantes had been "searching my handbag every time I [came] home." Rowling explained, "I haven't got a key to my own front door, because he's gotta control the front door. He's not a stupid person — I think he knew, or suspected, that I was gonna try and bolt again." [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1916"] Image credit: The Sun[/caption] According to Rowling, "it was a horrible state of tension to live in because you have to act, and I don't think I'm a very good actor; I don't think I have a very good poker face." She added, "And that was a huge strain — to act as though I wasn't going. That's a terrible way to live, and yet the manuscript kept growing; I had continued to write."

More details

JK Rowling also accused Jorge Arantes and revealed, "In fact, he knew what that manuscript meant to me because at a point, he took the manuscript and hid it. And that was his hostage." Also read: Eminem filed an opposition against Gizelle Bryant and Robyn Dixon for using ‘Shady’ in podcast title Moreover, after Rowling decided to leave Arantes permanently, she got to the stage where she "would take a few pages of the manuscript into work every day, just a few pages so he wouldn't realize anything was missing, and I would photocopy it." She went on, "And gradually, in a cupboard in the staff room, bit by bit, the photocopied manuscript grew and grew and grew, because I suspected that if I wasn't able to get out with everything, he would burn it or take it or hold it hostage." Rowling also clarified that the book was "the only thing I prioritized beyond that, obviously, was my daughter [Jessica Rowling Arantes, now 29]. But at that point, she's still inside me, so she's as safe as she can be in that situation." In addition, she said that the manuscript "still meant so much to" her. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1080"] Image credit: Books Charming[/caption] For those unaware, in 1997, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the first book in the series, was released. And JK Rowling became well-known all around the world as a result of its popularity and its later installments.