It’s JK Rowling, one of the finest
young adult authors in the world, writing for adults. What can possibly go
wrong?
Quite a bit, it turns out. The New York Times sums it up: "This
novel for adults is filled with a variety of people like Harry [Potter]’s aunt
and uncle, Petunia and Vernon Dursley: self-absorbed, small-minded, snobbish
and judgmental folks, whose stories neither engage nor transport us."
Set in the fictional village of
Pagford, The Casual Vacancy refers to
a spot on the parish council, made vacant by the death of council member Barry
Fairbrother. It chronicles (in detail) the political squabbles exacerbated by
Fairbrother’s death and class tensions in Pagford – but it does so with such
darkness that there’s no way it can be considered comedic. It’s not Jilly
Cooper. Not even Christos Tsiolkas.
To illustrate, there’s suicide,
rape, heroin addiction, beatings and racism; there is a sex scene in a cemetery;
and there are alarming scenes of domestic abuse. Rich fight with poor,
teenagers fight with their parents, wives fight with their husbands, and
teachers fight with their pupils...
Granted, the writing is intelligent
and the characters finely wrought, but there’s no-one to like. And the plot is,
in a word, odd. I didn’t love it. In fact, I was relieved when it was over –
not because JK Rowling doesn’t write well, but because this novel depressed the
hell out of me.
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