» Jennifer Byrne will interview J.K. Rowling!The Booktopian

Mark your diaries! Jennifer Byrne is the only Australian journalist to be granted access to J.K. Rowling to talk about the most hotly anticipated book of the year — her first book for adult readers, The Casual Vacancy. Rowling is only giving a handful of interviews worldwide. Don’t miss this fascinating discussion with one of the world’s most loved authors. J. K. Rowling: Life After Potter will air on ABC1 on Thursday, 27 September at 8pm – just three hours after The Casual Vacancy goes on sale in Australia and around the world.

The Casual Vacancy

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.

Click here to order The Casual Vacancy from Booktopia,
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John Purcell: This is the book which is making the bookworld nervous. The publisher is printing truckloads of the thing. Booksellers are playing along. No one knows if the readers will come out to play. JK’s first book for adults… Will it be any good? Because of a strict embargo no one will know until the day of publication when bloggers worldwide will race each other to be first to post a review.

Personally, I think it will be good. I think people will be delighted. And as soon as readers hear that it is good, they will flood into stores. This may not be a pre-order dream but it will be the biggest non-bondage book of the year.

So be one of the cool kids. Get it before everyone else. Your faith will be rewarded.