The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

Out of The Office

Aug 3

Hello Darlings, Known for her incredibly successful young adult series — Harry Potter — J.K. Rowling is due to release on September 27 her first novel for adults. The Casual Vacancy is described as blackly comic, thought-provoking, and constantly surprising.

It is a big novel about a small town:

"When Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

I admit that I have never read any of the Harry Potter series or for that matter seen any of the movies. The series just never seemed to resonate with me, but having become a literary phenomenon I am curious to read Rowling's first adult book. Perhaps after this novel, I will change my mind about Harry Potter .