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The Casual Vacancy
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The Casual Vacancy
The Casual Vacancy is a novel written by British author J. K. Rowling, published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. It was Rowling's first publication since the Harry Potter series, her first novel apart from that series, and her first for adult readership.
The novel is set in a suburban West Country town called Pagford and begins with the death of beloved parish councillor Barry Fairbrother. Consequently, a seat on the council is vacant and a conflict ensues before the election for his successor takes place. Factions develop, particularly concerning whether to dissociate with a local council estate, 'the Fields', with which Barry supported an alliance. However, those running for a place soon find their darkest secrets revealed on the Parish Council online forum, ruining their campaign and leaving the election in turmoil.
Major themes in the novel are class, politics, and social issues such as drugs, prostitution and rape. The novel was the fastest-selling in the United Kingdom in three years, and had the second best-selling opening week for an adult novel there since Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. It became the 15th best-selling book of 2012 during its first week of release. Within the first three weeks the book's total sales topped one million copies in English in all formats across all territories, including the US and the UK. The book also set a Goodreads record for the all-time biggest 'started reading' day, later winning the Best Fiction category in the Goodreads Choice Awards 2012.
A paperback edition was released on 23 July 2013. The book was adapted into a television drama broadcast in 2015.
The book is dedicated to Rowling's husband, Neil Murray. This was the third time Murray has received a dedication from his wife, after she shared a dedication in the fifth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the seventh Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
The book is split into seven parts, and features varying narratives. Each section is headed by a definition from Charles Arnold-Baker's book Local Council Administration.
The novel is split into seven parts, the first depicting the death of local Pagford Parish Councillor, Barry Fairbrother, who suffers a burst aneurysm in the car park of a local golf course. The inhabitants of the town share the news with their friends and relatives and chaos ensues. The problem arises in deciding whether local council estate 'The Fields' should join the local city of Yarvil, or remain as part of Pagford as Fairbrother favoured; his death is seen by many as an opportunity to end the debate once and for all. The fate of the methadone rehabilitation clinic, Bellchapel, is also a key controversy in the parish.
After the date for the election of Fairbrother's replacement is announced, the children of some of the councillors and candidates decide to make damaging, yet often accurate, posts on the Parish Council online forum. Andrew Price is the first to do so, by means of an SQL injection which he learned how to perform in school, operating under the name 'The_Ghost_Of_Barry_Fairbrother' and informing everyone that his father, Simon, had obtained a stolen computer. Sukhvinder follows, posting that her mother, Dr. Parminder Jawanda, was in love with Barry. Thirdly, Fats Wall posts, claiming his adoptive father Cubby (a Deputy Headteacher) suffers from obsessive fear of having molested a child without any memory of the fact. Finally, in a desperate attempt to relieve the guilt weighing on him for costing his father his job, Andrew confides in Simon and posts that Council leader Howard Mollison is having an affair with his business partner Maureen. Howard's son, Miles Mollison, is the winning candidate, much to the displeasure of his wife, Samantha, who confesses she did not know if she still loves him, only to eventually reconcile.
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The Casual Vacancy
The Casual Vacancy is a novel written by British author J. K. Rowling, published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. It was Rowling's first publication since the Harry Potter series, her first novel apart from that series, and her first for adult readership.
The novel is set in a suburban West Country town called Pagford and begins with the death of beloved parish councillor Barry Fairbrother. Consequently, a seat on the council is vacant and a conflict ensues before the election for his successor takes place. Factions develop, particularly concerning whether to dissociate with a local council estate, 'the Fields', with which Barry supported an alliance. However, those running for a place soon find their darkest secrets revealed on the Parish Council online forum, ruining their campaign and leaving the election in turmoil.
Major themes in the novel are class, politics, and social issues such as drugs, prostitution and rape. The novel was the fastest-selling in the United Kingdom in three years, and had the second best-selling opening week for an adult novel there since Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. It became the 15th best-selling book of 2012 during its first week of release. Within the first three weeks the book's total sales topped one million copies in English in all formats across all territories, including the US and the UK. The book also set a Goodreads record for the all-time biggest 'started reading' day, later winning the Best Fiction category in the Goodreads Choice Awards 2012.
A paperback edition was released on 23 July 2013. The book was adapted into a television drama broadcast in 2015.
The book is dedicated to Rowling's husband, Neil Murray. This was the third time Murray has received a dedication from his wife, after she shared a dedication in the fifth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the seventh Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
The book is split into seven parts, and features varying narratives. Each section is headed by a definition from Charles Arnold-Baker's book Local Council Administration.
The novel is split into seven parts, the first depicting the death of local Pagford Parish Councillor, Barry Fairbrother, who suffers a burst aneurysm in the car park of a local golf course. The inhabitants of the town share the news with their friends and relatives and chaos ensues. The problem arises in deciding whether local council estate 'The Fields' should join the local city of Yarvil, or remain as part of Pagford as Fairbrother favoured; his death is seen by many as an opportunity to end the debate once and for all. The fate of the methadone rehabilitation clinic, Bellchapel, is also a key controversy in the parish.
After the date for the election of Fairbrother's replacement is announced, the children of some of the councillors and candidates decide to make damaging, yet often accurate, posts on the Parish Council online forum. Andrew Price is the first to do so, by means of an SQL injection which he learned how to perform in school, operating under the name 'The_Ghost_Of_Barry_Fairbrother' and informing everyone that his father, Simon, had obtained a stolen computer. Sukhvinder follows, posting that her mother, Dr. Parminder Jawanda, was in love with Barry. Thirdly, Fats Wall posts, claiming his adoptive father Cubby (a Deputy Headteacher) suffers from obsessive fear of having molested a child without any memory of the fact. Finally, in a desperate attempt to relieve the guilt weighing on him for costing his father his job, Andrew confides in Simon and posts that Council leader Howard Mollison is having an affair with his business partner Maureen. Howard's son, Miles Mollison, is the winning candidate, much to the displeasure of his wife, Samantha, who confesses she did not know if she still loves him, only to eventually reconcile.