The Casual Vacancy [Hardcover]

Product Description
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.

About the Author
J.K. Rowling is the author of the bestselling Harry Potter series of seven books, published between 1997 and 2007, which have sold more than 450 million copies worldwide, are distributed in more than 200 territories, translated into 74 languages, and have been turned into eight blockbuster films. She has also written two small volumes, which appear as the titles of Harry’s schoolbooks within the novels.

Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through The Ages were published by Scholastic Bloomsbury Children’s Books in March 2001 in aid of Comic Relief. In December 2008, The Tales of Beedle the Bard was published in aid of the Children’s High Level Group, and quickly became the fastest selling book of the year.

Customer Reviews
Superb Writing and Excellent Character Development By Satisfied Reader (Pennsylvania)
I loved this book! I actually read aloud several sections of the book to co-workers because the writing was so good. Every word was perfect and it was a joy to read. Now with that said, about 100 pages in I thought I would need to draw out family trees to keep all of the characters straight both as to who they were and how they fit into the larger story. As I continued reading, I figured it all out and actually thought that if I were a newcomer to Pagford that is exactly how I would have felt anyway.

A Homerun By T. Mack (Montgomery Village, MD United States)
J.K. Rowling has hit it out of the park once again. She has the wonderful ability to make you feel, taste and smell everything the character tastes, feels and smells. A must-read!

Totally awesome book By It's my time fl
Go get the book , awesome ! Great gift for your family members ....mom , dad, sister, brother, everyone will enjoy this book! Very unexpected read ! Worth It!

Great Book By Nargles Away
Almost finished reading book. So far I like it very much. It is such a different storyline from the Harry Potter series. Those books really taught kids and some adults, hopefully, some life lessons. This one seems to be doing some of that too.
I am really happy for her success. What a great lady she is who gives so much back to children.

I Like it a Lot By James Palmer (Minneapolis, MN USA)
I like this book, and had a hard time putting it down. Yes, it was long, but because of JKR's writing skills it was a much quicker read than many other more turgid books with fewer pages. Yes, there were a lot of characters. That worked for me, too. It took a while to keep all of them straight, just like when one joins a new family, however ultimately they became a most interesting mosaic which clearly illustrated life in a small town. Yep, many of the characters were unlikable, but isn't that often the case everywhere? The book clearly paints the conservative versus liberal positions (in which we in the U.S. are a few years behind Britain, where their austerity program isn't working out well). While the book had a sad ending, it clearly showed that even the most disadvantaged of us have dreams of a better life.