The Casual Vacancy

I listened to this as an audiobook and it was slow going at first. The extensive cast of characters confused me initially, but I was soon absorbed in their lives. There are a few characters who seem to have no redeeming qualities, and I thought that was a miss on Rowling's part, especially when she works hard to establish a backstory for a few otherwise unsympathetic characters, partly, one assumes, to build sympathy. In any case, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it. Lots for a book group to talk about in terms of class, technology, rural/urban, and age divisions.