J.K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy on sale at 7pm
“The Casual Vacancy is set in a small community, which involved writing characters who are adolescents all the way up to
people in their sixties. I love nineteenth century novels that centre on a town or village. This is my attempt to do a
modern version. As a writer you have to write what you want to write; or rather what you need to write. I needed to
write this book” – J.K. Rowling
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 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
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?
A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults. It is the work of a
storyteller like no other.
J.K. Rowling is the author of the bestselling Harry Potter series of seven books, published between 1997 and 2007,
which have sold over 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 and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the
Ages were published by 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 (now known as Lumos), and quickly became the
fastestselling book of the year.
As well as an OBE for services to children’s literature, J.K. Rowling is the recipient of numerous awards and honorary
degrees including the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord, France’s Légion d’Honneur, and the Hans Christian Andersen
Award, and she has been a Commencement Speaker at Harvard University USA. She supports a wide number of charitable
causes through her charitable trust Volant, and is the founder of Lumos, a charity working to transform the lives of
disadvantaged children.
For further information about J.K. Rowling, please visit her website: www.jkrowling.com Check out the official Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/TheCasualVacancyOfficial
THE CASUAL VACANCY
J.K. Rowling
Published worldwide in the English language on 27th September 2012
Hardback ($49.99 RRP)
Click for big version.
ENDS