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The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

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Lagardère Publishing

Paris, April 12, 2012

Little, Brown Book Group announces that the new novel for adults by J.K. Rowling is entitled The Casual Vacancy. The book will be published worldwide in the English language in hardback, ebook, unabridged audio download and on CD on Thursday 27th September 2012.

The Casual Vacancy

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.

The Casual Vacancy

  • 480 pages (approximately)
  • ISBN 9781408704202 (hardback) price £20.00
  • ISBN 9781405519229 (ebook) price £11.99
  • ISBN 9781405519212 (audio download) £20.00
  • ISBN 9781405519205 (CD) price £30.00
  • Prices in other territories will be announced separately.

Press Contacts

For Little, Brown Book Group: Clare Harington, clare.harington@hachette.co.uk - tel 020 7873 6108

For J.K. Rowling: Mark Hutchinson, mark@markhutchinsonmanagement.co.uk - tel 07904 359 339
Nicky Stonehill, nicky@stonehillsalt.co.uk - tel: 01620 829800 - mobile: 07740 681560

Notes to Editors

J.K. Rowling is the author of the bestselling Harry Potter series of seven books, published between 1997 and 2007, which have sold over 450 million copies worldwide, are distributed in more than 200 territories, translated into 73 languages, and have been turned into eight blockbuster films. She has also written two small volumes, which appear as the titles of Harry's schoolbooks within the novels. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through The Ages were published by Bloomsbury Children's Books in March 2001 in aid of Comic Relief. In December 2008, The Tales of Beedle the Bard was published in aid of the Children's High Level Group, and quickly became the fastest selling book of the year.

As well as an OBE for services to children's literature, J.K. Rowling is the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees including the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord, France's Légion d'Honneur, and the Hans Christian Andersen Award, and she has been a Commencement Speaker at Harvard University USA. She supports a wide number of charitable causes through her charitable trust Volant, and is the founder of Lumos, a charity working to transform the lives of disadvantaged children.

Little, Brown Book Group

: Three times winner of the KPMG Publisher of the Year Award, in 1994, 2004 and 2010, Little, Brown has an award-winning publishing programme across eight imprints: Little, Brown, Abacus, Virago, Sphere, Orbit, Atom, Piatkus and Hachette Digital. Little, Brown Book Group has been a member of the Hachette UK group since 2006. Further information can be found at www.littlebrown.co.uk.

Hachette UK is the most diversified book publishing group in the UK, with a unique policy of encouraging its publishing houses to operate autonomously. Amongst its houses and imprints are Hachette Children's Books, Headline Publishing Group, Hodder & Stoughton, Hodder Education, John Murray, Little, Brown Book Group, Octopus Publishing Group, Orion Publishing Group, Sceptre, Virago and Weidenfeld & Nicolson. with international publishers and distributors Hachette Australia, Hachette New Zealand, Hachette India, Hachette Ireland and Hachette Middle East.

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