The Harry Potter author previously made remarks that sparked backlash from the trans community and others, including mocking an article with the phrase "people who menstruate" in its headline and publishing a 3,000-word essay titled JK Rowling Writes about Her Reasons for Speaking Out on Sex and Gender Issues.

Harry Potter actors Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe, and Emma Watson were among those to criticize Rowling. “Trans women are women,” Grint wrote. “Trans men are men.”

Rowling’s new book, published under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith, is titled The Ink Black Heart. Coming as part of her crime thriller series, Cormoran Strike, it follows a character who has a public downfall following statements that were received as transphobic.

According to Rolling Stone, the synopsis of the book is as follows: “Rowling introduces readers to Edie Ledwell, a creator of a popular YouTube cartoon who sees internet trolls and her own fandom turn on her after the cartoon was criticised as being racist and ableist, as well as transphobic for a bit about a hermaphrodite worm.

The creator was doxxed with photos of her home plastered on the internet, subjected to death and rape threats for having an opinion, and was ultimately found stabbed to death in a cemetery. The book takes a clear aim at “social justice warriors” and suggests that Ledwell was a victim of a masterfully plotted, politically fuelled hate campaign against her.”