Book info

• Title The Casual Vacancy
• Author J. K. Rowling
• Year 2012
• Genre Contemporary

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the 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?

Thoughts

This was the first non-Harry Potter book that JK Rowling released, and it‚’s taken me a long time to get round to reading it. I’m glad I eventually did, because it has all the hallmarks of Rowling’s ability to set up a world and immerse the reader in it.

Far more adult than the Potter books, this one follows the fortunes of several families in a sleepy village as they go about mourning the death of a council member and the process of replacing him. It’s fascinating to follow, a story that winds around from person to person, revealing inner thoughts and details as and when you need them.

Oddly, despite the bleak nature of the outcome, the book as a whole left me with a warm feeling of having invested in some characters and following them closely. It’s intricately plotted, full of detail, and as real in its human failings as Harry Potter was fantastic in its magic.

Rating: 4 / 5