What was the title of J.K. Rowling’s 2012 novel for adults about the village of Pagford?

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

Published on 27 September 2012, The Casual Vacancy was Rowling’s first novel after the Harry Potter series. It is set in the fictional English village of Pagford, where the sudden death of parish councillor Barry Fairbrother creates an empty seat on the local council.

The resulting election exposes conflicts involving class, poverty, addiction, family life, and local politics. Unlike the Harry Potter novels, the book is a contemporary social novel with no supernatural setting. Its title refers to the formal term for an unfilled elected position.

The novel was adapted into a three-part BBC television drama broadcast in 2015. The television version starred actors including Michael Gambon, Rory Kinnear, and Keeley Hawes. The book’s title is sometimes misremembered as “A Casual Vacancy,” but the published title begins with “The.”