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The person who leaked J.K. Rowling's pen name is revealed

Rowling was recently discovered to be the author behind the novel 'The Cuckoo's Calling,' which was billed as written by Robert Galbraith. Rowling's law firm Russells confessed that one of its partners told someone else, according to Reuters, who then tweeted the news to the British newspaper the Sunday Times.

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Lefteris Pitarakis/AP
J.K. Rowling said in a statement that she 'feel[s] very angry that my trust turned out to be misplaced' in the law firm Russells.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

The mystery of who leaked J.K. Rowling’s secret writing identity has been solved.

A partner of Rowling’s law firm, Russells, named Chris Gossage was aware that Rowling was behind the novel “The Cuckoo’s Calling” that was billed as written by Robert Galbraith, according to Reuters. According to the news agency, Gossage told the best friend of his wife, Judith Callegari, and Callegari was the person who tweeted at a Sunday Times columnist last week, stating that she knew Rowling was behind “Cuckoo.” This prompted the newspaper to launch its own investigation and eventually uncover the fact that Rowling was behind the book.

“Whilst accepting his own culpability, the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly,” the law firm said of Gossage in a statement. “On becoming aware of the circumstances, we immediately notified J. K. Rowling’s agent. We can confirm that this leak was not part of any marketing plan and that neither J. K. Rowling, her agent nor publishers were in any way involved.”

Rowling made a statement about the leak as well and did not sound happy. 

“A tiny number of people knew my pseudonym and it has not been pleasant to wonder for days how a woman whom I had never heard of prior to Sunday night could have found out something that many of my oldest friends did not know,” the “Harry Potter” author said. “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.”

Rowling’s publisher, Little Brown, is reprinting “Cuckoo” to meet demand now that the author’s identity has been revealed. Before it was known that the “Potter” author was behind the book, reviews were extremely positive but sales lagged. However, now that the truth is out, the book is currently at the number one spot in sales on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

In her initial statement on the revelation that she was the “Cuckoo” author, Rowling mentioned she “had hoped to keep this secret a little longer.”

“Being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience,” the author said. “It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation, and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name.”

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