Written By: JK Rowling
Release Date: September 27, 2012
Synopsis: 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 façade 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 town’s 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? Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.
The Muggle Review
First and foremost, if you are a long time fan of JK Rowling’s work you won’t be disappointed. She brings her magical style of characterization with an adult related theme. This is not the wonderful world of Harry Potter & his friends. This story revolves around the reality of our world and the nature of people. So, if you are looking for something warm and fuzzy with a light at the end of a tunnel this isn’t that type of story.
I’m not gonna lie, I had my reservations about this book based off of the publisher’s description. But if you judge books by the brief and to the point publisher’s description you may never read a single book the rest of your life. Since this is a book by JK Rowling I decided to give it a whorl, and she didn’t disappoint. The book does start off slow, and introduces characters and setting at a rapid pace and is a little overwhelming at first. But if it didn’t we’d get nowhere fast in the story. So if you have a difficult time in the beginning, stick with it, the story gets deeply involved and the characters will drive you mad.
Once you get a feel for all the characters and decipher what’s going on, for us Americans the British Politics seem a little strange, the story evolves into a web of human nature and how people react to things that go on around us in everyday life, but we never seem to think of how or what we say and do affects others. You fall in love with some characters and can’t wait to see their tale unravel further, then others you can’t stand and want to see them get what’s coming to them. The entire novel is several short stories that all twist and twine into one great tale.
In all, it can be an emotional roller coaster. And the ending of ‘The Casual Vacancy’ threw me for a loop. I didn’t expect it to end the way it did. I did sneak a peak near the end to see what would happen, but didn’t not read enough to spoil it. And for many it will be a tear jerker. JK Rowling really hit the mark on this one, it’s just that this novel may not be for everyone. Depends on what you like. But as she did with Harry, she has brought such believable characters into the real world and having to deal with situations of everyday life that we can all relate to in some way.
