When I heard that JK Rowling was writing her first ever “adult” novel, I knew that I would buy it regardless of the topic and, true to my intent, last week I was in my local bookstore to pick up my copy of The Casual Vacancy (pre-ordered months ago) before 8.30am.
I spent the next three days utterly engrossed in reading and, now, two days after finishing, I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about the story.
If you enjoyed Harry Potter, do not expect that you should also like this book as well. The only thing the two have in common is that they’re set in the same country.
Much has been made about this being Rowling’s first adult novel, and it certainly lives up to that designation. The first F-bomb is dropped by page 13 and the language remains rather vile throughout whenever certain characters are on the page. Also included in the book are drug use, sex, rape, graphic descriptions of pornography and pretty much every other adult or illegal activity you’d care to mention loitering in these pages.
Harry certainly never did anything like this.
The book focuses on the small English village of Pagford, its neighboring city, Yeovil, and the council estate that lies between them known as The Fields - home to a methadone clinic and the city’s most undesirable residents.
It begins with the death of Barry Fairbrother, a parish councillor in Pagford, and tracks the lives of many locals in the month that follows, a month in which a new councillor has to be elected, thus dividing the village along two sides of an important local issue. Many of the characters in the village feel as if they would be good friends with Vernon Dursley. Indeed,I kept expecting him to make a cameo at some point. Everyone in the village has their good and bad sides although naturally the balance is tipped differently in each case.
Structurally, the book reminded me of the film, Love Actually. Every character is connected to every other, whether closely or tenuously, and so every action reverberates across the entire community. The book jumps smoothly between characters and their wildly different individual stories whilst never losing sight of the complete tale that holds them all together.
There’s Krystal, the teenage daughter of a heroin addict, struggling through life in The Fields; Samantha, the bored wife of a local lawyer; and Howard, the chair of the parish council and owner of the local deli. None are especially likeable but we learn about their pasts and the events that have shaped them.
The depiction of life in 2012 England is as close to perfect as I could possibly imagine. Nothing seemed far fetched or caricaturish. It was like a mirror being held up to my country and showing us what life is really like here - junkies and all. It’s not a particularly nice image but it’s very, very real. I live in a small England village with it’s own parish council and if Pagford’s issue was transplanted here, I could easily imagine events unfolding just as they did in the book - and that honestly frightens me just a little.
The book is also decidedly left-wing as it relates to English politics. There are several subtle digs at those who side with the right-wing and the general impression is one of socialism being a positive force.
Should you read it?
If you’re looking for a light-hearted fun read, then no, absolutely not. The Casual Vacancy deals with hard issues that both England and the rest of the word are facing today; drugs, poverty and making the right services accessible to those who need them. The consequences of the many negative events means that much of what happens ranges from uncomfortable to downright tragic.
If, however, you want a book that will make you think, or one that shows you what modern life in England is really like for many, then it’s quite possibly the best book you’ll buy this year.
