Enews – Listen up, Harry Potter fans!
J.K. Rowling is releasing a totally new book. That’s right! The 54-year-old author announced the new fairy tale, called The Ickabog, via her website on Tuesday.
While Rowling made it clear “this is not a Harry Potter spinoff,” she also noted she came up with the idea for the story while she was still writing the Harry Potter series.
Over time I came to think of The Ickabog as just for my family. The manuscript went up into the attic, where it remained until a few weeks ago.
This is the very dusty box I got down from the attic.
(It's a Net-A-Porter box and might well have held a premiere dress.)4/13 pic.twitter.com/vg8F5Qx33M
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 26, 2020
“I wrote most of a first draft in fits and starts between Potter books, intending to publish it after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” she wrote via her website. “However, after the last Potter book I wanted to take a break from publishing, which ended up lasting five years.”
So, what is the book about? Rowling described it as a “story about truth and the abuse of power.” However, she reiterated she came up with the idea for the book over a decade ago and made it clear “it isn’t intended to be read as a response to anything that’s happening in the world right now,” noting “the themes are timeless and could apply to any era or any country.”
Opening the box was like opening a time capsule. Most of the story was handwritten, but bits had been typed up. When I put it into some kind of order (I'm not renowned for my filing skills) I had a patchwork first draft.
5/13 pic.twitter.com/mz1qaGyyUt
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 26, 2020
While Rowling called the story a “read-aloud book,” she also said it’s “suitable” for children between the ages of 7 and 9 to read to themselves.
As for those wanting to dive into the story, Rowling wrote she intends to post a chapter (“or two, or three”) every weekday between May 26 and July 10 via the The Ickabog website. But that’s not all. She’s also calling upon her young readers to help with the illustrations with a friendly competition. The winning images will be featured in the book this November.