When Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little 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 town’s 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? Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults. (Description from amazon.com)
Since this book was published on September 27, 2012, I decided to buy it and bring it with me on vacation. I was so looking forward to reading this book and letting you know that I loved it and that you must read it.
Not!
Let me begin by saying that I love Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling and what she did for children and children's literature as a whole. I was a new librarian when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was published in 1998. I remember reading the a starred review in School Library Journal, having a few patrons come in and ask about the book and then watching the whole thing explode. It was such an exciting time. It was clear to me that this was a phenomenon that was rare and that would take years or maybe decades to happen again. I truly believe that the publication of these books paved the way for a lot of other authors and the explosion (almost saturation) of children's/young adult literature series. Without Harry Potter, I believe, there would be no Twilight or The Hunger Games.
That being said, I did not finish this book. The first chapter seemed promising, but I think the most interesting character happened to be the one who died. I thought it was dull, boring, depressing and I did not get attached to any characters (and there were many of them) enough to find out what happened to them. It was filled with foul language and a lot of adult situations; rape, drug use, child abuse. There wasn't a whole lot of plot and every page seemed tedious to get through. I held off on reading any reviews until I was about half way through the book, because I didn't want to cloud my opinion. Sadly, my review seems similar to many other readers.
I just read that J.K. Rowling's next book will be a children's book. Hmm.....
If you must read it, borrow it from the library or get in touch with me, it is just sitting there on my shelf.
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