A good year

A Year in the Life of J K Rowling has been showing over the past few weeks, and I encourage everyone who has an opinion of Harry Potter to see it.

While there are few surprises, what comes across is a very genuine, warm person who has worked very hard and is doing her best to come to terms with global fame and great wealth. On the evidence of the film, she is succeeding admirably.

Oscar Wilde once exclaimed 'Heaven save me from my disciples' and one can imagine J K Rowling feeling that way as she is surrounded by children with painted on lightning scars, girls dressed in Beaubaton school uniforms and pointed hats.

That's actually unfair, as Jo seems more at home surrounded by children than she does in the business meetings. She takes her writing seriously, but appears somewhat overwhelmed when it comes to films, theme parks and merchandise.

Her charitable work is also featured and it is something she obviously takes very seriously.

One of the most human and endearing scenes - apart from her tearfully revisiting the apartment where she wrote The Philosopher's Stone to discover a full set of Harry Potter books on the shelves of the new tenants - was when she sketched out the family trees with all the children of the Hogwart's children. She likened the activity to a runner running beyond the finish line and said that she needed to know how these things turned out. To me, this indicated her real concern for her readers and empathy with them.

J K Rowling seems to be a very private person who has been thrust into a very public life. Her husband speaks of her self-contained and private nature. Her sense of duty to her readers and Harry Potter fans motivates her punishing schedule of readings and book signings, and she seems to carry them out with good grace.

It's easy to be cynical and say, 'Well, she can afford to,' but the point is, she can afford not to, but does.