She may not be able to match the phenomenal success of the Harry Potter series, but J.K. Rowling has high hopes for The Casual Vacancy, her first novel for adults.
The title was announced Thursday by Little, Brown & Co., which said the novel will be set in a seemingly idyllic English town called Pagford.
It opens with the death of a popular man whose unexpected demise shocks the town, which is described as far more menacing than its pretty facade would indicate.
In reality Pagford is “a town at war” with rich people fighting the poor, parents battling their teenagers, and wives in conflict with their husbands.
The Casual Vacancy will be available worldwide as a hardcover and an e-book on Sept. 27.
The effort will mark Rowling’s first post-Potter effort. Her saga of the boy wizard became one of the most successful fictional series in history.
AP
