Blazing a Book Trail

JK Rowling’s new adult novel, The Casual Vacancy is quite a departure from the Harry Potter series. Pagford is no magical, mythical town, and its inhabitants aren’t wizards, or witches, or muggles, although they are every day, ordinary humans like you and I. For me, as a huge fan of Coronation Street, this was a great book to read. Set in the small English town of Pagford, we are introduced to a wide range of characters that occupy various levels of the social strata. And, like Coronation Street, there is plenty of drama to be had in their lives. Departing from the soap, however, The Casual Vacancy focuses more on the dark sides of humanity and misses the mark when it comes to showcasing quirky small town characters

A casual vacancy opens up with the sudden death of a council member, prompting several members of the community to put names forward, all with their own reasons for wanting to be on town council. There is Colin “Cubby” Wall, the school principal and best friend of Barry Fairbrother the newly deceased. He has aspirations of picking up where his friend left off, and ensuring Barry’s dreams for the town of Pagford come true, a lasting legacy if you will. Unfortunately, Cubby has a dark, dirty secret he’s petrified will come out under scrutiny of council elections.

Then there is Simon Price, abusive husband and father who is sure Barry was receiving kickbacks for his work on the town council, and wants his share of the pie. His dirty, money scheming secrets are the first to air in public.

Chair of town council, and Pagford mayor (had the town ever been incorporated), Howard Mollison has his own ideas about who should fill the suddenly vacant seat, and they all rest with his son and heir, Miles, someone who will tow the line and vote as daddy would have him.

What’s at stake is The Fields, an underprivileged neighbourhood on Pagford Parish property that was acquired many years ago by neighbouring Yarvil and who some Padfordians feel should no longer be the financial responsibility or burden of the good citizens of Pagford. Returning the property and its people and all their problems to Yarvil is the goal of Howard Mollison and his supporters, who were adamantly opposed by the deceased, and now you have the gist of the novel.

Added to the local political shenanigans are the teenage children of Pagford and The Fields and their own individual problems: one has a drug addict for a mother, another cuts herself because of her mother’s neglect, another suffers verbal and physical abuse from his father on a regular basis, while another who seemingly has the perfect family home, is slowly turning into a sociopath.

The dark underbelly of life in Pagford is exposed with all its seediness. This is no uplifting novel, but rather a dark and interesting read about human nature at its most raw.

The Casual Vacancy will not appeal to all, but it is well worth reading.

Till next time, happy reading!