What is the title of J.K. Rowling’s 2012 novel about life in the fictional town of Pagford?

The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s 2012 novel about life in the fictional English town of Pagford. It was Rowling’s first novel published after the completion of the main Harry Potter series and her first novel written for adults under the name J.K. Rowling.

The plot begins with the sudden death of Barry Fairbrother, a member of Pagford’s parish council. His death creates a “casual vacancy,” meaning an empty elected seat, and the resulting political contest exposes tensions involving class, poverty, addiction, and local government.

The title refers to the council vacancy rather than to a person or place named Casual. The novel is separate from Rowling’s crime fiction published as Robert Galbraith and from the fantasy world of Harry Potter. Its setting, Pagford, is fictional, although the social and political conflicts draw on recognizable features of contemporary British communities.