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

The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s 2012 novel about social tensions in the fictional English town of Pagford.

The story begins when Barry Fairbrother, a parish councillor, dies suddenly, leaving a vacant seat on Pagford’s local council. The resulting election exposes conflicts involving class, poverty, addiction, family life, and the relationship between Pagford and the neighboring Fields estate.

The novel was Rowling’s first published work for adults after the completion of the Harry Potter series. It is not a fantasy novel and contains no magical setting. That contrast is central to its identity, since Rowling used a realistic contemporary community rather than a school of witchcraft and wizardry.

The title refers both to the council seat and to the wider emotional and social gaps revealed after Fairbrother’s death. A television adaptation was broadcast by the BBC in 2015, with Michael Gambon, Rory Kinnear, and Monica Dolan among the cast.