The Casual Vacancy

The Casual Vacancy (2012), an adult mystery novel by J.K. Rowling, centers on a vacant council seat in an English political constituency and the fight between various locals who want the seat for themselves. J.K. Rowling’s first adult book, it received mixed reviews upon its release. Despite the lukewarm reception, The Casual Vacancy was adapted for television. J.K. Rowling is an internationally bestselling author, best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series. She also writes under the pen name, Robert Galbraith.

The Casual Vacancy is set in Pagford, England, a quiet and rural place where nothing much happens. The kind of village where people keep to themselves and outsiders aren’t too welcome, it is the perfect place, then, for rumors, scandal, and trouble to take root. Beside the main village of Pagford is an estate known only as the “Fields.” The Fields is a poor estate and the residents of the uppity Pagford can’t stand being associated with it.

The protagonist Barry Fairbrother is on the local council board. He also works as a journalist and bank manager. His wife, Mary, is snobbish and moody. She doesn’t like how Barry is often sympathetic to the people in the Fields; she wishes that he would agree to separate Pagford from the Fields for good.



Before Barry and Mary get into yet another fight about his campaign style and her mood swings, Barry drops dead. Now that Barry is dead, his seat on the council is vacant. The people of Pagford must vote for Barry’s successor. The voting hinges on what happens to the Fields and its residents.

Most people want the Fields to become part of the neighboring town, Yarvil. Yarvil doesn’t get a say on whether this happens or not. Only a few people want the Fields to stay inside the council district of Pagford. The problem is that most people didn’t think they’d ever have to make up their minds about the Fields. It is a theoretical problem everyone enjoys complaining about, but no one wants to deal with.

The major issue with the Fields is its methadone clinic. If Pagford lets go of the Fields, Yarvil won’t support the clinic and it must shut down. This means that many recovering heroin addicts would lose access to vital support and medicine they need. No one wants this to happen, and so the council is now at a stalemate. No one knows how to break the standstill.



It’s not just the people of Pagford who care what happens—those who live in the Fields care, too. No one cares more than Krystal Weedon. A teenage girl who lives in the Fields with her half-brother and her mother, a heroin addict who sometimes sells her body to pay for drugs, Krystal is terrified that something terrible will happen to her mother; she doesn’t know how to look after her baby brother on her own.

Krystal knows how important the clinic is. She knows how awful heroin is and what it does to a town. She tries to stay clean, but this isn’t easy. One day, a drug dealer rapes her the park. Krystal gets a boyfriend, Fats, to keep her safe from rapists like the drug dealer. One afternoon, while she is having sex in the park with Fats, her little brother falls into the park pond. One of the candidates, Sukhvinder, tries to save him, but it is too late.

Blaming herself, Krystal doesn’t think she deserves to live any longer. With the prospect of the clinic shutting down, and no hope left, Krystal overdoses on her mother’s heroin. She dies, sending shockwaves through the whole community—including Pagford. The shockwaves aren’t enough to save the clinic, however.
The Casual Vacancy introduces readers to many potential candidates for Barry’s seat. The successful candidate is Miles Mollison. His father, Howard, already sits on the council. Howard wants to close the methadone clinic, not caring about the consequences. Miles’s mother keeps away from politics. Miles, a lawyer who runs a small firm, is looking for a new challenge.



The candidates engage in petty, childish behavior to win the seat. They start vicious online rumors about extra-marital affairs and other problems, and soon the whole town is wrapped up in the drama. Miles’s wife wants to divorce him because she doesn’t love him; the campaigning makes her realizes this. However, when he wins the seat, she knows she can’t leave him. In Pagford, everything is all about keeping up appearances. She is stuck with Miles now whether she likes it or not.

At the end of The Casual Vacancy, Fats takes credit for all the anonymous messages posted online. He says he started the rumors and that he is glad they have hurt so many people. However, readers know that Fats only ever posted one rumor—a rumor about a local teacher being a child molester. Although virtually everyone in town posted a message at some point, it is easier for them to shame Fats and be done with it all.