If you have picked up this book in the hopes of reading something similar to the Harry Potter series, or thinking that you would like this book because you absolutely adore the Potter series, then you are in for a surprise.
The Casual Vacancy is nothing like the Potter series. Lovable characters, gripping storyline, fast moving plot are somethings that are conspicuous by their absence in this particular literary effort by Ms. Rowling.
It is only a co-incidence that the posthumous central character of the book is named ‘Barry Fairbrother’. No relation to Harry (wink wink) In the initial three-fifth part of the story the author has painstakingly developed several characters as in great detail. Such is the level of detail that skipping a few pages in the initial part of the book would have no effect on one’s understanding of the plot.
However, you feel like you really know the characters if you can withstand this initial part. Towards the end though, the author seems to be running for closure. Poetic justice is meted out to the bad guys, a tragic heroine emerges and an underdog saves the day. Read it if you have a lot of time and patience on your hands.
The Plot: 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?
Rowling’s first book for adults!! more like first book for seniors…