Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Harry Potter, JK Rowling, LGBTQ, Books
Poppy Bilderbeck
A transgender author has faced a mixed response to killing off JK Rowling in their latest book.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling came under fire in 2020 for writing a series of controversial tweets which argued the discussion of gender identity invalidates biological sex, leading many to brand her transphobic.
A tribute for the author was defaced with the Trans pride flag, Rupert Grint spoke out, Stephen King claimed the author blocked him for supporting trans women and Rowling's address was even leaked to Twitter.
Now, author Gretchen Felker-Martin has since released Manhunt, a gender-based apocalypse story, which sees Rowling killed off.
Advert
The book, which was first published on 22 February, 2022, follows 'trans women and trans men on a grotesque journey of survival'.
Tor Nightfire, part of publishing house Macmillan, states the synopsis on its website: "Beth and Fran spend their days traveling the ravaged New England coast, hunting feral men and harvesting their organs in a gruesome effort to ensure they'll never face the same fate. Robbie lives by his gun and one hard-learned motto: other people aren't safe.
"After a brutal accident entwines the three of them, this found family of survivors must navigate murderous TERFs, a sociopathic billionaire bunker brat, and awkward relationship dynamics – all while outrunning packs of feral men, and their own demons."
In the novel, Rowling makes up the group of trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) who are branded the 'Knights of JK Rowling'.
In the book, the character of Rowling travels to a castle in Scotland accompanied by her other 'rich' TERF friends.
Rowling's pseudonym Robert Galbraith – which she used for novels such as The Cuckoo's Calling – is also referenced in the novel, with the name of the war ship used by the TERFs called the Galbraith.
The group end up 'burn[ing] alive' and the whole castle collapses after one character 'flips in the middle of the night and starts ripping into other guests'.
"Have the new girls heard what happened to the Harry Potter lady?... Okay, so, first off she ended up being a crazy TERF, like, super intense," the book reads.
Despite the widespread criticism Rowling has faced since her 2020 tweets and the accusations of transphobia, the response to Felker-Martin's novel has been extremely mixed.
"I have to be honest I cannot for the life of me understand why Amazon is selling bile like this, well, I can, money of course, But this isn't only bile & violence for the sake of it, it's truly awfully written bile and violence," one Amazon user wrote.
On the other hand, one Twitter user wrote: "I adore @scumbelievable and I love MANHUNT. These transphobic ghouls are attacking it because it scares them how beloved Gretchen and her writing is. And because her books will be recognized as great pieces of literature in a way R*wling's garbage will never be."
Another said: "Manhunt is one of my favorite hand-sells, and the way people's faces light up at the premise is great.
"(Also: it's wild to look at these 1star review bombs and see how many mention "cruelty" with absolutely 0 self awareness)."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence contact Mindline Trans+ on 0300 330 5468. The line is open 8pm–midnight Mondays and Fridays and is run by trans volunteers