The Casual Vacancy, J. K. RowlingWhen Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty faade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils. Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry

"[A] mordant debut novel

narrator Tadpole's feisty Aunt Gugu is revered as an obstetrician in her home township in rural China

The It-Gets-Better-Before-It-Gets-Worse Trap

Growth is good

and one woman’s struggle to break free from the violence both without and within her

World on How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability

” —Entertainment Weekly “A breathtaking and important book

So I hope that you'll take a moment to sit back

Completely unique and practical

beautifully adapted to both print and digital formats

Weighing in on the New Deal

caught in the tragic sweep of history