Newsletter from J.K. Rowling on 'The Casual Vacancy' - 'I needed to write this book'

J.K. Rowling's publishers released a newsletter this morning for the release of The Casual Vacancy - the first adult novel by the Harry Potter author - that provides an insight into why J.K. Rowling chose to write this particular novel.

From the Newsletter:

"The Casual Vacancy is set in a small community, which involved writing characters who are adolescents all the way up to people in their sixties. I love nineteenth century novels that centre on a town or village. This is my attempt to do a modern version. As a writer you have to write what you want to write; or rather what you need to write. I needed to write this book."

When Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock.

Seemingly an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, what lies behind the pretty facade 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 if 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 revelation?

The Casual Vacancy is available in stores now and has already been released in the English and German versions with the French version due out tomorrow. Further translated editions will be available in the coming months.

Be sure to follow J.K. Rowling's official Facebook Page for The Casual Vacancy right here for more information.