J.K. Rowling was a single mother on the dole as she tapped away at the sprawling epic that had periodically occupied the spare hours of her life. Her success is the stuff of dreams, the material for movies and made to order for the Lifetime Channel, whose The J.K. Rowling Story is out on DVD.
Based on the “unauthorized biography” by Sean Smith, the Lifetime version stars Poppy Montgomery as the fetching, fresh-faced author who was taught by her mum (despite the disapproval of her practical dad) to “follow her heart.” A minor key is sounded when Rowling follows her heart into an abusive, failed marriage to a Portuguese cad, forcing her to return to the U.K. without prospects but with a child to feed. But without some difficult digressions, as Rowling would certainly agree, the story would lack interest, and if the movie\'s account is reliable, Rowling was already spinning tales as a little girl. Her imagination was whetted by her mum\'s bedtime stories, often such classics of British children\'s literature as The Wind in the Willows.
The Lifetime production doesn\'t ponder why the Harry Potter saga made such an impression, but looks for sources in Rowling\'s experience. The schools she attended, with their blazers and ties, their bullies and supercilious instructors, are plausible models for Hogwarts. “Nobody makes any money writing children\'s books,” her agent counsels her. The remark was not true, but no one ever sold as many children\'s books as J.K. Rowling.
