If you picked up The Casual Vacancy simply at the sight of J. K. Rowling’s name, expecting another charming child-friendly fantasy novel, you are hopelessly and horribly wrong. Rowling couldn’t have written anything more contrary to the Harry Potter series with this hard-hitting, obscene, but profound parable of class battles, abuse, and addiction.
The novel is set in the make-believe village of Pagford and neighbouring town, Yarvil (the only aspect of this book that is make-believe, I promise you) – the latter is a council estate-infested, worn and rough-edged eyesore, placing an overwhelming burden on the former’s picturesque beauty. But the lives of those in both settings are perilously disrupted by the death of Barry Fairbrother, a beloved member of the Pagford Council who was empathetic to those in both Pagford and Yarvil.
The novel, after the initial, and dramatic, death of Barry Fairbrother, is somewhat slow to begin. It’s almost tedious in the amount of times Samantha and Miles visit Howard and Shirley’s house for dinner, in which Samantha drinks too much and Shirley dishes out back-handed compliments faster than her casserole. But this delayed start is inevitable when you realise to what extent Rowling is going through to introduce a sprawling variety of complex characters, and all of this is done with an acute portrayal of human existence. Through this painful detail, and as the novel progresses, Rowling brings to light things which often lie beneath the surface of those cheerful smiles: addiction (and its many forms). From Howard’s “total inability to stop gorging” himself, to Terri Weedon’s reliance on class A drugs, to Samantha’s excessive drinking, to Fats and Andrew’s use of weed, almost all of the characters have some kind of addiction, but it’s the parallels Rowling draws between them all that show the absurdity of the social stigma (or acceptance) some have attached to them. And it’s this obsessive behaviour that causes the anguish and conflict that comes to an explosive fruition later in the novel.
The Casual Vacancy discusses other issues prevalent in society today, including self-harm, but not in a way that other novels sometimes seem to romanticize it, or any other mental disorders. While Rowling doesn’t address it with any delicacy (hence, I repeat, hard-hitting), she presents it with some realism that is appropriate for the youth who are bombarded by the media’s seriously conflicting views on these disorders.
And all of this is done in gorgeously detailed, yet uncomplicated, prose, littered with subtle metaphors and adding an even deeper level of meaning for keen readers.
The Casual Vacancy, although long-winded in its introduction, is a beautiful and thought-provoking novel which prominently displays the versatility of Rowling’s writing styles and her astounding story-telling talent.
Words by Eve Taylor