What pen name appears on J.K. Rowling’s adult novel The Casual Vacancy?

J.K. Rowling’s adult novel The Casual Vacancy was published under the name J.K. Rowling.

The Casual Vacancy appeared in 2012 and was Rowling’s first novel for adults after the completion of the Harry Potter series. It is set in the fictional English parish of Pagford, where a local council seat becomes vacant and exposes conflicts involving class, politics, poverty and family life.

Unlike Rowling’s crime novels, which use the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, The Casual Vacancy was marketed openly under her established J.K. Rowling name. The distinction is a common source of confusion because both books and later fiction belong to the same author.

The novel was released by Little, Brown and Company in several English-language markets. Its setting and subject matter differ sharply from Hogwarts, but Rowling’s interest in social divisions and the pressures affecting young people remains visible in the story.