J.K. Rowling’s first foray into adult literature for adults has produced what I consider a very good book.
The Casual Vacancy draws you in from the very beginning. Here is a brief synopsis, according to her website, http://www.jkrowling.com/:
Photo Credit: www.goodreads.com
“When Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock.
Seemingly an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, 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?”
According to The Daily Beast, “An insanely compelling page-turner… The Casual Vacancy is a comedy, but a comedy of the blackest sort, etched with acid and drawn with pitch… Rowling proves ever dexterous at launching multiple plot lines that roar along simultaneously, never entangling them except when she means to. She did not become the world’s bestselling author by accident. She knows down in her bones how to make you keep turning the pages.”
Although I didn’t actually pick up the book, I opted to listen to the audiobook. I like listening to audio books rather than reading them nowadays, simply because I love to hear the reader bring the characters to life. The Casual Vacancy was read by Tom Hollander, an English actor who has appeared on stage and on screen in several great movies.
Photo Credit: www.listal.com
If you get the chance to listen to this book, I think you’ll enjoy it; however, there is a lot of profanity, so listener and reader “beware”.
Have you read, or listened, to The Casual Vacancy? I would love to hear your thoughts on J.K. Rowling’s first adult book!
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