Rowling’s ‘blackly comic’ tale for adults

JK ROWLING’S first book for adults will be a “blackly comic” tale about an idyllic town ripped apart by a parish council election.

Details of her novel, The Casual Vacancy, have been released by her publisher. The 480-page book, released later this year, will be set in Pagford, a dreamy spot with a cobbled market square, which becomes a town at war.

This will be Capital-based Rowling’s first novel since her final Harry Potter book was published in 2007. Publisher Little Brown said the new book, to be published worldwide on September 27, begins with the unexpected death of Barry Fairweather, whose demise in his early 40s leaves a space on the parish council.