J.K. Rowling’s new book, The Cuckoo’s Calling was written under the name Robert Galbraith. She had trusted that her identity would remain secret by doing this. However her confidence was breached when a partner from Russells’ law firm spilled the news to someone, that person told someone else, and that person told someone else until the entire world knew. Although the partner only told his wife, she went on to tweet to her friends causing a viral expansion until the entire population of earth knew her secret.
The author commented on the fiasco, “To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. I had assumed that I could expect total confidentiality from Russells, a reputable professional firm, and I feel very angry that my trust turned out to be misplaced.”
The Harry Potter author wanted to find out if her latest work, The Cuckoo’s Calling, would reach critical success without having to rely on the previous fame she earned with the tales of wizards from Hogwarts. She wanted to avoid the fanfare that comes with being a celebrity writer, and just focus on the story’s individual success. Now that is impossible.
Russells law firm apologized and acknowledged that partner Chris Gossage was the one who breached the firm’s confidence. They commented on the situation. “Whilst accepting [Gossage’s] own culpability, the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly. On becoming aware of the circumstances, we immediately notified J.K.Rowling’s agent.” According to eonline.com, the firm admitted the leak happened “during a private conversation.” Interestingly enough, the firm’s apology seems to admit that there was a point of weakness with the partner who had to tell someone, but he told his wife. And it was his wife who told the world. It seems a rather funny statement that the entire situation had one last point to hold to. It seems to me that the firm seems to acknowledge the complacent old views that you can’t trust a wife with a secret.
After the author’s veil of secrecy was removed, she posted her regrets to her website. She had wanted to continue to write under another name, as she felt it offered her a type of freedom from fame. She wrote on her site, “being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience.” Famous author Stephen King, who often writes under the pen name Richard Bachman, supports the move to cast off the famous identity for a plain one. King emailed USA Today and commented, “What a pleasure, what a blessed relief, to write in anonymity, just for the joy of it.”