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The Best Work of Fiction by J.K. Rowling
You’ll never guess. Also, don’t cancel me, please?
It’s not sweet like Harry Potter. It’s a right slap on your face, this book. It jars you with crackling reality. It’s a true reminder that the truth is essentially unpalatable.
Rowling’s Casual Vacancy is about the lives of the residents of a picturesque country-side English village. On the surface, they look perfect in their winter coats and Victorian hats. Rowling takes us into the homes of each neighbour struggling with pressing personal issues: whether real or concocted. The book is touted as chaos caused in the villagers as a political vacancy arises on the Village Council.
Only those who read it can tell that it’s about so much more than just politics.
Here’s all that I loved about Casual Vacancy:
The bitter taste of first-World patriarchy: England has always been one of the most modern societies. There’s no dowry, female foeticide or inheritance issues. But there is a strong undercurrent of chauvinism that runs in almost every male character in the book, and it’s accepted by every woman. Rowling effortlessly uncovers the ugly face of the patriarch — who doesn’t need to justify himself, whose issues always remain a priority; and the choking clarity resting in each woman’s heart: that…
