 |
| © Wall to Wall Media Ltd. Photographer: Andrew Montgomery. |
Sept. 27, 2012, has been set as the publication date for J. K. Rowling’s long-anticipated new book. Entitled The Casual Vacancy, the book is Rowling’s first since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the wildly popular series. Don’t expect another Harry Potter-like adventure/coming-of-age book, though. Publisher Little, Brown, & Co. describes The Casual Vacancy as a “blackly comic” novel for adults, and offers this plot summary:
When Barry Fairweather 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 façade 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 on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?
Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.
Little, Brown is a member of the Hachette group, which just settled with the Department of Justice in the agency pricing lawsuit. That means that the ebook can (and no doubt will) be sold for less than list price. Amazon is already accepting pre-orders for the hardcover ($21) and Kindle ($19.99) versions; both prices are discounted off the $35 list price. Barnes and Noble is also taking pre-orders and has matched those prices. Neither Kobo nor Sony have listed the book yet, and I haven’t been able to check the iTunes bookstore.
Excuse me; I’m off to ask the library to order a copy or twenty!
Sources: The Guardian; The Washington Post; Little, Brown & Co.
