JK Rowling scribbles swear words over copy of Nicola Sturgeon's memoir

JK Rowling has annotated Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir with sweary criticisms ahead of her review of the book.

On Tuesday, the Harry Potter author mocked the former first minister for saying public spaces should be safe for women and girls.

Rowling has repeatedly criticised Sturgeon for the SNP government’s controversial gender recognition reforms, which would have made it easier for trans people to change their legal gender.

Sturgeon has since admitted she should have paused the legislation and that she didn’t anticipate some of the concerns that would be triggered.

The former SNP leader has also struggled when questioned over the case of trans double rapist Isla Bryson.

Bryson was originally sent to women’s prison Cornton Vale before being moved to the male prison estate.

Sturgeon said anybody who rapes a woman “probably forfeits the right to be the gender of their choice”.

On Tuesday, Rowling posted a picture on X of an annotated page of Frankly, Sturgeon’s book, in which the former first minister writes that Scotland has a “long way still to go to make the public sphere safe for women and girls”.

Rowling wrote: “Pages 108-9, in which our heroine opines on the need to make the ‘public sphere’ safe for women and girls.”

The words, “Are you f***ing kidding me?”, are written across the pages in black pen.

Rowling said: “Annotating as I read to review. Might auction my scribbled-on copy, proceeds to go to [For Women Scotland].

“Nobody who’s offended by swearing should bid.

Rowling highlighted a segment where Sturgeon recalled crying in a toilet at Holyrood early in her career after suffering what she now describes as “sexual bullying” from an unnamed male MSP.

Sturgeon said the bullying was designed to “humiliate and intimidate, to cut a young woman down to size and put her in her place”.

While the former SNP leader wrote that she’d like to say things are better now, she said she is not sure that’s true.

“We have such a long way still to go to make the public sphere safe for women and girls,” Sturgeon wrote.

“I just worry that by the time we get there, there will be too few women left in public life for it to matter.”

After previously offering to review Sturgeon’s memoir for free in British newspapers, Rowling said on Tuesday she would post her full review of Frankly on her own website.

“Watch my website for my review of ‘Frankly’, the memoir of Scotland’s (checks notes) most persecuted, misunderstood, self-critical, open-to-debate, feminist-to-her-fingertips ex-First Minister,” Rowling said on X.