Review
The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling's first foray into fiction for grownups, is nothing if not timely. The story feels especially relevant in a debate about the role of government – one that seems to occupy much of the social consciousness these days. Central to the argument in this novel is a decaying subsidized housing unit, The Fields. Because of various zoning laws, The Fields is yoked to the rich and idyllic English town of Pagford even though most of the town's residents believe it should be a part of the big, neighboring city, Yarvil. Most of Pagford's citizens are convinced it is not their responsibility to subsidize welfare benefits for the junkies and drug addicts who reside in The Fields. Pagford doesn't want Fields' kids in their schools, nor do the town's morally upright citizens want to keep paying for a drug rehabilitation clinic that only Fields' residents seem...
Beyond the Book
J. K. Rowling grew up in England's West Country, which is an informal term used to embrace the southwestern part of England, the peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. The West Country doesn't have any rigid borders but generally includes the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset. A looser definition also includes all or parts of the counties of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.
Rowling grew up in the towns of Winterbourne and Tutshill in Gloucestershire. She also spent some time in Chepstow, which is actually in Wales, with suburbs spilling across the...
