The Casual Vacancy

When Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is in shock. Seemingly an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with parents, wives at war with husbands, teachers at war with pupils…Pagford is not what it seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?