The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling

Absolutely mind blowing. JK Rowling truly has proved herself to be the fantastic writer, even in adult literature that some cynical critics doubted she was.

When I opened The Casual Vacancy for the first time, I was extremely determined to remain unbiased. I am myself, a huge fan of the Harry Potter series and JK Rowling has been my hero since I had Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (yes I read them in a strange order) read to me when I was three years old.

Because of this, I wanted not to have any expectations of The Casual Vacancy, especially with some of the bad reviews I had heard floating around and tried to empty my mind of any thoughts of Harry Potter. For the first part of the novel, I found this extremely difficult, and found myself almost uncomfortable with the thought of JK Rowling using curse words and writing about sex and drugs, but as I became more immersed in the story, it became easier to detach myself from my personal feelings towards the author and enjoy the story.

And I truly did enjoy the story. The concept seems almost boring, looking at the way in which one mans death in the prologue of the book affects the inhabitants of the sweet little town of Pagford and it's surrounding estate. Although, I must offer a warning of the trap I fell into, upon reading the blurb: this is not a murder myster. Barry Fairbrother is not murdered, and DON'T WORRY, that is not a spoiler. You are quite literally told that in the first chapter.

I imagine many of the readers of this novel may find their attitudes chaging, as I did. One of the families described in the novel, are the Weedon family: a mother and her 2 children and various other family members: aunties, nanas etc. The Weedon family live in the council estate known as 'The Fields' and they are, to put it oh-so-crudely a 'chav family'. They are, as many middle class families would say, "sponging of the state, to feed their own smack addictions." Without giving too much away about the story, my eyes have been opened and my guilt increased about the way I judge families like this. Not because I'm a bad person, I promise I'm not, but because it is too easy for working/middle/upper class families like myself and probably you, reading this, to pass judgement subconsciously on people like Terri Weedon, simply because of her dialect or her track marks on her arms and feel that they are undeserving of the taxpayers money. It is a cruel world we live in, and that is one of the biggest messages I get from this novel.

I would advise anyone to read this novel, and to try their hardest to do so with an open mind. Try not to think of the author and her past works, and concentrate solely on this novel. You will not regret it. JK Rowling had a lot to prove when she stated that she was working on her first novel for adults and she has exceeded my expectations by miles.

I cannot wait to see what else JK Rowling has to offer, she truly is a literary genius.