J.K. Rowling makes her transition to grownup books

Publisher Little, Brown has announced that J.K. Rowling’s new novel for grownups (The Casual Vacancy), will be released on Thursday, September 27th. The big question on everybody’s mind seems to be, “Can she write for adults?” (That’s probably because the question, “Will this make money?”, is moot).

The Harry Potter author is breaking into a completely new genre, leaving latter-day fantasy and moving to a more realistic setting. Little, Brown describes her new book like this:

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?

Cynics expect her to fail, of course, and fans are rabidly looking forward to the new book. I like to give her the benefit of the doubt. She entranced an entire generation of kids, and turned many reluctant readers into avid readers. But I can relate to what she’s doing. Although my book sales are only in the hundreds of thousands, not hundreds of millions like Rowling, I have made the cross-genre leap. For me, it dramatically increased my success. I wish Rowling well. She’s been doing good works for charity (even taking herself off of the Forbes’ billionaire list due to donations), and the new book has the potential to be good for her and good for her favorite charities.

Go for it, Jo!

I — and a few hundred million other fans — eagerly await your new book. We’ll be having a midnight rollout party for it at Red Lodge Books!