Which J.K. Rowling novel is set in the fictional village of Pagford?

J.K. Rowling’s novel set in the fictional village of Pagford is The Casual Vacancy.

Published in 2012, The Casual Vacancy was Rowling’s first novel for adults. Its plot begins after the unexpected death of Barry Fairbrother, a member of Pagford’s parish council. The resulting vacancy triggers a bitter local election and exposes conflicts involving class, poverty, addiction, family life and social responsibility.

Pagford is fictional, so it should not be confused with a real English village or with a location from the Harry Potter series. The novel’s setting is an ordinary contemporary community rather than a magical world, marking a clear change in genre and subject matter for Rowling.

The Casual Vacancy was published under Rowling’s own name. By contrast, her later Cormoran Strike crime novels were initially published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. That difference in authorship presentation is a frequent source of mix-ups when listing Rowling’s post-Harry Potter fiction.