The Casual Vacancy‘s catch phrase sums up the entire novel: “A big tale about a small town”. In this novel we are given one event in the prologue: the death of Barry Fairbrother, and the rest of the book focuses on the effect that this death has on the small community.
This novel is extremely effective in how the story builds. Rowling spends the first third of the novel slowly building up the relationships between characters and explaining who the main “players” in the town are. To understand the main conflict in the novel, one needs to understand Barry Fairbrother. Barry came from a low-income environment and managed to build himself up into a Pillar of the Community. Barry took it upon himself to defend the people in the Fields: a low income neighbourhood. The town Pagford wishes to give up their control of the Fields to Yarvil, the larger town that is slowly creeping towards them. The Low Income Neighbourhood is and eye sore that brings down the value and class of the picture perfect Pagford.
So while Barry was fighting for keeping the Fields as a part of Pagford. Howard Mollison is trying his best to divorce the Fields. With Barry out of the picture, Howard tries to find someone to fill the seat and swing the council vote in his favour.
There are no real villains in this story, instead Rowling gives us a slice out of the lives of these characters. You come to understand why characters react and interact the way they do. You know who has formed alliances and why. But where no one can really be considered a villain, no one can be considered a hero. Everyone except Barry, who is seen by those who were Pro-Fields as the perfect man: loving father, pillar of the community and best friend ever.
Rowling explores many issues through this book: the destruction of secrets, dissolving marriages, the fear of growing old, the fear
The Lord and Master of Our Childhoods have Followed us Into Adulthood
of the young, the fear of personal weakness, fidelity, friendship and love are just a few. It’s impossible to go into too many details without spoiling the rest of the story, since the novel is dependent on its slow reveals.
I wouldn’t recommend this novel to everyone who loved the Harry Potter series since the book does not deal with the same kind of content and it’s definitely for mature readers. What I can say though is that if you liked J.K. Rowling’s writing style and how she unfolds a story then give this book a read. The Casual Vacancy has a bad reputation since everyone holds the the novel up to the Harry Potter series, these two stories are completely different making them impossible to compare.
So give it a read!
I’ll warn you, it might break your heart.
