The Casual Vacancy (2012) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters edit see section history

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• Barry Fairbrother: A man who grew up in the Fields housing estate but became a successful banker and well-liked councillor for Pagford Parish. He dies from an aneurysm at the beginning of the book. The story is about how he influences everyone in Pagford.
• Howard Mollison: Obese owner of the deli and member of the council. He is married to Shirley and is Miles' father. Nemesis to Barry and all his followers. Chair of Parish Council
• Shirley Mollison: Howard's wife and keeper of the city council website. Dislikes her daughter in law, Samantha.
• Krystal Weedon: A high school student from the Fields housing estate from a very troubled home. Member of the rowing team. She is held up as an example for the Fields but is also hated by many in the town of Pagford
• Robbie Wheedon: Krystal's little brother, toddler aged-3 years old.
• Miles Mollison: Howard's son, a lawyer who wants the vacant council seat. Married to Samantha.
• Samantha Mollison: Miles' wife who hates his parents. She owns a bra store.
• Tessa Wall: Cubby's wife; head of guidance at the school
• Colin "Cubby" Wall: Stuart's father, deputy head of school
• Stuart "Fats" Wall: Andrew's friend and classmate and often up to something. Colin and Tessa's adopted son.
• Dr. Parminder Jawanda: One of the Councillors; the community's general practitioner. Barry's political ally.
• Sukhvinder Kaur Jawanda: One of three kids in the Jawanda family, close friend to Gaia, and tormented by Fats, and bullied by other kids at school, as well as her own parents. Nicknamed Jolly by her father.
• Andrew "Arf" Price: Ruth and Simon's rebellious son. Fats' friend.
• Simon Price: Paranoid and abusive husband and father; attempts to win council seat. Often involved in shady dealings, works at Harcourt-Walsh printworks
• Ruth Price: Simon's wife and a nurse at the local hospital. Makes friends with Shirley Mollison and excuses her husband's behavior.
• Paul Price: Ruth and Simon's youngest son
• Gavin Hughes: Miles's partner at the solicitor's, Kay's reason to move to Pagford. Best friend of Barry Fairbrother. Mostly a spineless character.
• Kay Bawden: Gaia's mother; a social worker. Moved to Pagford for Gavin.
• Gaia Bawden: Kay's daughter, ripped away from Hackney London by her mother. Andrew Price has a crush on her.
• Terri Weedon: A drug addict from the Fields; Krystal's and Robbie's mother. She also had to give up two other children in her youth.
• Mrs. Catherine Weedon: Krystal's great-grandmother. Cares for Krystal when she's taken away from her mother.
• Mary Fairbrother: Barry's wife and mother of their four children
• Niamh Fairbrother: One of Barry's twin daughters
• Siobhan Fairbrother: One of Barry's twin daughters
• Fergus Fairbrother: Barry Fairbrother's eldest son
• Declan Fairbrother: Barry and Mary's youngest child
• Lexie Mollison: Miles Mollison's daughter
• Libby Mollison: Miles' daughter
• Cheryl Tully: Terri Weedon's sister, the mother of Krystal's Tully cousins. A resident of the Fields who is frequently feuding with Terri Wheedon.
• Rajpal Jawanda: The only son, and eldest child, of the Jawanda family
• Jaswant Jawanda: The oldest daughter of the Jawanda family. Described as very attractive. Nicknamed Jazzy.
• Maureen Lowe: Howard Mollison's business partner at the deli, aka Mo
• Aubrey Fawley: Pagford's representative in Yarvil; his father bought a Pagford landmark property in the 1950s
• Julia Fawley: The wife of Aubrey Fawley. Organizes and contributes to hospital charity.
• Alison Jenkins: Journalist at the Yarvil and District Gazette
• Dane Tully: A troubled student; lives in the Fields. Krystal's cousin.
• Nikki: Krystal's friend
• Obbo: A drug dealer and skeeze who lives in the Fields
• Leanne Carter: A friend of Krystal's
• Lauren: A girl on the rowing team
• Shane Tully: One of the Weedon family's cousins.
• Skye Kirby: A local low-level drug dealer.
• Betty Rossiter: One of the older council members.
• Shona: Secretary at Edwards Collins and Co
• Pikey Pritchard: A dodgy gentleman from the Fields housing estate, who is known to repair motors.

Quotes edit see section history

• “The mistake ninety-nine percent of humanity made, as far as Fats could see, was being ashamed of what they were; lying about it, trying to be somebody else.”

  Stuart "Fats" Wall

• “You must accept the reality of other people. You think that reality is up for negotiation, that we think it's whatever you say it is. You must accept that we are as real as you; you must accept that you are not God.”

  Tessa Wall

• “Teenagers, Tessa knew, were riven with the fear of ridicule. Those who were without it, and God knew there were few enough of them in the adult world, had natural authority among the young; they ought to be forced to teach.”

  Tessa Wall

• “Darkly clothed mourners moved, singly, in pairs and in groups, up and down the street, converging, like a stream of iron filings drawn to a magnet, on St. Michael and All Saints.”

• “It was classy to volunteer; it was what women did who had no need of extra cash; women like herself and Julia Fawley.”

• “How awful it was ... The way tiny ghosts of your living children haunted your heart; they could never know, and would hate it if they did, how their growing was a constant bereavement.”

  Tessa Wall

• “Tessa was used to the anger of students she saw most often in guidance; many of them were devoid of work-a-day morals, they lied, misbehaved, and cheated routinely, and yet their fury when wrongly accused was limitless and genuine.”

  Tessa Wall

• “Miles was temporarily baffled, but Samantha said coldly, "I think that's a rather different thing." "Do you?" said Kay, "It's the same principle." "Yes, well, principles are sometimes the problem if you ask me," said Miles, "often, what's needed is a bit of common sense." "Which is the name people usually give to their prejudices," rejoined Kay.”

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Pagford, England: "an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey."
• The Fields: A suburban area for Yarvil names for the Sweetlove estate's fields which once served as a barrier against the sprawling Yarvil. The upkeep for The Fields is shared by both Yarvil and Pagford; Yarvil is responsible for the houses and Pagford for the roads, footpaths, lighting and bus shelters. The majority of the residents of The Fields are on the public dole and are frequent visitors of the local addiction clinic.
• Yarvil: An encroaching city adjacent to Pagford. The majority of Pagford's citizens work in Yarvil.
• Sweetlove House: A Queen Anne manor, originally set in parks and farmland, midway between Pagford and Yarvil. The current owner is Aubrey Fawley, a distant descendant from the Sweetloves.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Casual Vacancy: A casual vacancy is deemed to have occured: (a) when a local councillor fails to make his declaration of acceptance of office within the proper time; or (b) when his notice of resignation is received; or (c) on the day of his death

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. J. K. Rowling (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Coarse language; sexual references and situations

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• J.K. Rowling's website