The Casual Vacancy
Author: J.K. Rowling
Source: Kim's choice for book club
Days to read: I don't remember!
It took awhile (about 100 pages or so) for me to get into this book. The
basic premise is this - set in a small town called Pagford, the book starts off
with the death of Barry, a parish councillor. You are then introduced to
a plethora of characters who were friends, family, students or political
opposition. The untimely death of Barry was in the midst of a decision to
dissociate with a particular area of Pagford known as “the fields”. Barry
supported the alliance and with his seat on the council up for grabs, all those
with a vested interest are pushing to fill the seat in their favour.
Along with politics, there are issues of drug abuse, domestic abuse, and
family issues.
After I was acquainted with the many characters, the book began to
improve. However, I still found some parts to be a little boring at times and I
favoured certain storylines over others. I hate when that happens because then
you just want to skim over the not-so-interesting storylines to get back to the
good ones! BUT, I do have to say that the last 150 pages or so things started
to heat up and I raced through those last pages.
Without having read anything else by Rowling, I wouldn’t jump to read
her next novel. However I think it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on
the book if you have read the Harry Potter series. I’m interested as to how it
compares to the adult fiction.
I've read every Harry Potter book and they are fantastic. I haven't had any desire to read her new one because of its bad reviews, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the HP series - you need to read them (trust me, I don't even like fantasy and I still loved them)
ReplyDelete