JK Rowling Gives Rare Insight Into Her Second Marriage On Radio Show
The Bill Withers song 'Ain't No Sunshine' reminded JK Rowling of "a very moving marital movement".
JK Rowling has given a rare insight into her marriage.
During the Tracks Of My Years segment on Ken Bruce's BBC Radio 2 show.the Harry Potter author opened up about "a very moving marital movment" with her second husband Neil Murray — whom she has been married to since 2001 — while discussing Bill Withers' 'Ain't No Sunshine'.
Of the song, she said: "Well I think of all the love songs written, this might be my favourite. It's such a beautiful, simple sentiment, but I have an additional reason for choosing it, which is that it took lockdown for my husband to say to me ... I was playing it in the kitchen while cooking something; he walked in, he said, 'This always makes me think of you when you're down in London' and that was a very moving marital moment so now it has an extra layer of meaning for me."
And the 55-year-old writer has enjoyed spending more time at home during lockdown, including having her teenage kids, Mackenzie, 15, and David Gordon, 17, around.
Rowling also has a daughter with first husband Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes, whom she divorced in 1993.
She added of her lockdown experience: "Well, I hope that all listeners have had the happy experience that I've had of it being quite a special time. We also have teenage kids and it's been kind of wonderful to spend that extra time with them."
Rowling insists home for her now is in Edinburgh but when she was younger, she had "itchy feet" and loved to travel.
She said, "Well, home now is definitely Scotland. I've lived most of my life now in Edinburgh, I've lived here longer than I've lived anywhere else, but when I was younger I had very itchy feet and I've lived in London, Manchester, Paris, Oporto ... I've moved around a lot. I also, within those cities, kept moving. I just do have very itchy feet." — BANG