History Literature / TheCasualVacancy

* GloryHound: Andrew suspects that [[spoiler: Fats took the credit for all of The_Ghost_Of_Barry_Fairbrother's posts when he only wrote one of them]] for this reason.

* HollywoodHacking: Surprisingly averted- SQL injection is shown mostly realistically (if vaguely), and is actually one of the first tools a real hacker would use against a website (due to its ease of execution and difficulty of authorities to trace).
* {{Hypocrite}}: Two people get called out for their own, more socially acceptable, substance abuse while they're advocating for the closure of the addiction clinic. Dr. Parminder Jawanda [[spoiler: is accused of hypocrisy in her motives for her pro-Fields advocacy by The_Ghost_of_Barry_Fairbrother.]]

* [[spoiler: InfantImmortality: Averted with Robbie.]]

* ItsAllAboutMe: Really this is a flaw that a lot of characters share. Gavin in particular exhibits this, allowing his girlfriend, Kay Bawden, to uproot her and her daughter's life to move to Pagford despite not actually loving her. Colin too but [[spoiler:his SuperOCD]] gives him an excuse.

** Mary Fairbrother, Barry's widow, surprisingly gets hit with this. She was disapproving over how much time her husband spent on Krystal Weedon, the counsel, and his other projects; disagreeing with him about whether anyone in the Fields was worth anything. She is treated sympathetically for most of the novel, considering that Barry didn't seem to pay her much attention, but reaches mean-spirited levels when she refuses to attend [[spoiler: Krystal's funeral, both forbidding her children from going and despairing that Krystal will be buried anywhere near Barry.]]

* KilledOffForReal: [[CaptainObvious Aside from]] [[PlotTriggeringDeath Barry]], [[spoiler: Nana Cath, Robbie, and Krystal]] are dead, [[spoiler: Howard]] is in stable but critical condition, and [[spoiler: Terri]] might as well be dead [[spoiler: considering what she's lost]].

** {{Rihanna}}'s [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iQRXuAo6Eg "Umbrella"]] appears to be one for Krystal and the rowing team, to the point where [[spoiler: they request that it be played at Barry Fairbrother's funeral as the casket is led out of the church.]]
** [[spoiler: It gets played again at Krystal's funeral.]]

[[WordOfGod Rowling has said]] that a [[TheFilmOfTheBook Film Of The Book]] would be highly unlikely given its structure; however, the BBC plan on turning the novel into a TV miniseries instead.

It's TwentyMinutesIntoThePast, and the little English town of Pagford is in shock. Barry Fairbrother, a popular member of the local [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parish_councils_in_England parish council]], has dropped dead of a brain aneurysm on his wedding anniversary. Though everyone is impacted by his death, the ensuing drama and election to fill the [[TitleDrop casual vacancy]] Barry left behind reveals a town that is tearing itself apart over what to do with a housing project known as "The Fields", that is outside the jurisdiction of both Pagford and [[TheRival the neighbouring larger town of Yarvil]]. The novel follows a [[RotatingProtagonist rotating]] cast of characters as egos are bruised and family tensions boil over, and meanwhile, a certain mysterious someone [[spoiler:or three]] is posting townsfolk secrets on the local website...

''The Casual Vacancy'' was met with interest when first announced in April of 2012. Upon its release, the critical response was strictly LoveItOrHateIt, with some enjoying the change of writing style, while others complained that it was too different from her older work. Sales were respectable, but still far less than ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows''.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:After three-year-old Robbie drowns in the river while his sister, Krystal, and Fats are having sex in the bushes nearby, Krystal is DrivenToSuicide via heroin overdose. Fats, meanwhile, completely crosses the DespairEventHorizon and becomes a shell of his former self. Samantha Mollison, who remembers having seen Robbie alone by the river but, absorbed with her own problems, did nothing about it, decides to become TheAtoner and join the Parish Council to see if she can keep the Bellchapel Addiction Clinic open]].

** Subverted with Gaia Bowden whose father left her mother when she was conceived, though it's heavily implied she's in contact with him and knows that he is married, has some children, and where he lives.

* [[spoiler: PedoHunt: An interesting variation, where the apparent 'pedophile's sexual thoughts about children are actually caused by OCD, rather than a genuine attraction to underage people. Regardless, when The_Ghost_Of_Barry_Fairbrother reveals Colin's secret, his chances for a council seat drop to zero.]]
* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: Parminder and Vikram. Parminder insists that their parents arranged their meeting but did not force them to marry each other.

* ReallyGetsAround: Krystal is referred to as "the school bike."

* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: It's unclear as to ''when'' the novel is supposed to take place, although there is a grave with a date-of-death of 2008 on it, Benazir Bhutto is apparently a topical reference, and {{Facebook}} plays a notable role in some of the subplots. The Nintendo DS is also mentioned at one point. Rhianna's "Umbrella" plays into it as well which was released in 2007 the same year when Rowling released ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows''.

* UnusualChapterNumbers: The novel is split into parts, most of which are numbered[[note]]an InfoDump on the history of Pagford called (Olden Days) gets its own section between Parts 1 and 2[[/note]]. Part 1 and 2 are split into days, which each have their own set of short chapters[[note]]except for the first Friday, which is one long chapter[[/note]], and the chapter count resets to I at the start of a new day. After a TimeSkip, the days-of-the-week numbering is dropped, and instead chapter counts reset after each part. [[MindScrew Got it?]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: We never find out who Fat's birth parents are.]]

** A weird non family example, but Barry Fairbrother could qualify as he seems to be really the only character who generally cares about the people of Pagford. He was really the only one who didn't see Krystal Weedon as some town bicycle bully. His allies Parminder and Colin are really only taking up his sword because that's what he would want, not necessarily because they think it's the right thing to do.

* AcceptableTargets:[[invoked]] In-universe with [[spoiler:Fats]] by the end of the book. The community holds him responsible for [[spoiler:Robbie's drowning]], so abusing him has become "a duty and a pleasure."

** Throughout most of the book, Gaia barely knows Andrew exists. [[spoiler:The end of the book shows her warming to him and the two of them planning to go out once Andrew's family moves to Reading.]] She's fully aware of him taking an interest in her, as she notices him staring at her constantly, and this quote is very telling: "''She was worth much more than Fats Wall, she knew that. If it had even been Andy Price, she would have felt better about it.''"

** [[spoiler: Fats' adoption]], [[spoiler: Colin's OCD pedophilia]] and [[spoiler: Parminder's crush on Barry]] are [[{{Subtext}} indirectly]] addressed near the beginning of Part 2. It's subtle enough that a first-time reader will probably miss them and without giving too much away to spoil the plot for attentive readers, making this more of a [[RewatchBonus Reread Bonus]].

* [[spoiler: PedoHunt: An interesting variation, where the pedophile's desire for closeness to children is obssessive-compulsive. Regardless, when The_Ghost_Of_Barry_Fairbrother reveals Colin's secret, his chances for a council seat drop to zero.]]

** Don't forget Colin and his thing for [[spoiler: touching kids.]]
*** Which due to his OCD doubles as ParanoiaFuel as it's implied he actually hasn't done it.

* CouncilEstate: The Fields, which is under the jurisdiction of two councils, though neither wants it anymore.

* HotDad: Vikram, being a gorgeous man in a town of mostly [[{{Film/Fargo}} funny-lookin' people]], also counts as something of an in-universe MemeticSexGod. He also is the only living adult male in the town, whose personality isn't shown grotesquely (to be fair, it's not really shown at all, though from the glimpses we get, it can be told that he's an intelligent man and a loving, open-minded father). It's really ironic that [[spoiler:it's his wife, who's been in love in another man for years.]]

* ReallyGetsAround: Krystal.

* CouncilEstate: The Fields.

* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: Jawanda and Vikram. Jaanda insist that their parents arranged their meeting but did not force to marry each other.

* PosthumousCharacter: Ok, four guesses.

* TheUnfavorite: Poor Suhkvinder.

* UnusualChapterNumbers: The novel is split into parts, most of which are numbered[[hottip:note:an InfoDump on the history of Pagford called (Olden Days) gets its own section between Parts 1 and 2]]. Part 1 and 2 are split into days, which each have their own set of short chapters[[hottip:note:except for the first Friday, which is one long chapter]], and the chapter count resets to I at the start of a new day. After a TimeSkip, the days-of-the-week numbering is dropped, and instead chapter counts reset after each part. [[MindScrew Got it?]]

** Throughout most of the book, Gaia barely knows Andrew exists. [[spoiler:The end of the book shows her warming to him, but leaves it ambiguous whether or not they'll even see each other again once Andrew's family moves.]]
*** Though she's fully aware of him taking an interest in her as she notices him staring at her constantly.
*** However, this quote is very telling: "''She was worth much more than Fats Wall, she knew that. If it had even been Andy Price, she would have felt better about it.''"

* [[spoiler: BittersweetEnding: Hooray, the local election is over and some of the citizens of Pagford are starting to like each other! But Krystal, Robbie and Nana Cath are dead, Terri has completely broken down, Fats has become a self-loathing pariah, Colin and Simon's lives have been ruined by their own sons, Gavin is alone and miserable, Kay might be unemployed, Andrew and Gaia may never see each other again, Simon is still abusing his family, and Howard is still in the hospital recovering from his heart attack, his condition stable but his ultimate fate unknown.]]

** [[spoiler: Andrew's EpiPen is nearly used by Shirley to murder Howard, until he gets a heart attack of his own accord. It stays as a small source of guilt for Shirley, until she quickly suffers from AesopAmnesia.]]

* [[spoiler: InfantImmortality: Tragically averted with Robbie.]]

* AdultFear: Fair warning, parents - after reading this book, you'll never [[spoiler: let your toddler near a waterfall]] again.

''The Casual Vacancy'' was met with interest when first announced in April of 2012. Upon its release, the critical response was strictly LoveItOrHateIt, with some enjoying the change of writing style, while others complained that it was too different from her older work. Sales were respectable, but still far less than ''[[HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]''.

* {{Expy}}: The_Ghost_of_Barry_Fairbrother posts seem to be this of [[HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince The Half-Blood Prince's potion book]] both are mysterious entities in written form that are personified by the characters in an almost legendary way as if both are some sort of mythical being.

* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: It's unclear as to ''when'' the novel is supposed to take place, although there is a grave with a date-of-death of 2008 on it, Benazir Bhutto is apparently a topical reference, and {{Facebook}} plays a notable role in some of the subplots. The Nintendo DS is also mentioned at one point. Rhianna's "Umbrella" plays into it as well which was released in 2007 the same year when Rowling released HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows.