After nearly nine years in the dark, Jk Rowling has made contact with her father for the first time since he sold a collection of Harry Potter first editions behind her back to cover his own debts.

The UK's Daily Mail reports the father-daughter pair fell out with each other nine years ago after he sold a collection of rare Harry Potter first editions to cover his £100,000 debts following the collapse of his burger van business. The author's father, Peter Rowling, said at the time that his daughter, who is worth an estimated £560million, was unwilling to help him out in his time in need. However, Peter has recently revealed that he and his daughter are back on "good terms" and are talking to one another again.

Rowling's new novel, her first since the Harry Potter series ended, features a rather 'vile' character in it, believed to have been inspired by Peter. Peter mentioned during a Q&A with press that he believes that the father of Andrew, one of the new novel's central characters, is based loosely on him. In the past, the author has spoken of her difficult relationship with her father on a number of occasions.

JK Rowling's new book, The Casual Vacancy, was released earlier this week and has been receiving a mixed response from critics so far and it's reputation has already suffered somewhat due to a series of glitches that have been found on e-Book versions of the novel, according to the BBC.