What is the name of J.K. Rowling’s 2012 standalone adult novel?

J.K. Rowling’s 2012 standalone adult novel is The Casual Vacancy.

Published by Little, Brown and Company on 27 September 2012, the novel is set in the fictional English village of Pagford. Its story begins after the death of Barry Fairbrother, whose vacant seat on the local parish council creates a political and social conflict.

The book examines class, poverty, addiction, family relationships, and tensions within a small community. It was Rowling’s first published novel after the Harry Potter series and marked a clear change in genre, audience, setting, and tone. It is not part of the wizarding world.

The Casual Vacancy is sometimes confused with Rowling’s Cormoran Strike novels, which are crime books published under the name Robert Galbraith. The Casual Vacancy was published under Rowling’s own name and is a single, self-contained novel rather than the start of a continuing series.