Potterheads rejoice: J.K. Rowling's next novel is due out in less than three months.
Little, Brown and Company, a division of the publisher Hachette Book Group, releasing Rowling's upcoming "The Casual Vacancy," has released the cover art for the highly anticipated new book.
"Vacancy," Rowling's first novel since she drew the remarkable "Harry Potter" series to a close, will be a significant departure from the magical world her fans know and love. Still, fans hope lightning will strike yet again, this time in the English town of Pagford:
"When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the 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?
A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J. K. Rowling’s first novel for adults. It is the work of a storyteller like no other."
The publisher also notes that "The Casual Vacancy," due out September 27, will be 512 pages long, and the audio edition will be read by Tom Hollander.
