The Casual Vacancy discussion

I was unhappy when I looked up questions to present to my book club about this book. So I crafted some on my own. These questions are a bit deeper than the ones I found online. Please feel free to use them. Hope they are helpful for your book club discussions.

Book Club Questions for The Casual Vacancy

1. The book's setting, Pagford, is an idyllic, cozy, English village. Why do you think Rowling decided to use this particular setting? The rival Parish of Yarvil appears to be an exact opposite of Pagford. Why is this important to the story?

2. This book is a character-driven novel, but the main “good” character dies within the very first pages of the book. The author then presents dozens of (severely) flawed and dysfunctional characters which we, as readers, then have to evaluate and decide who we are pulling for. Did you find this difficult? Who did you lean towards as the character(s) that you most wanted to come out the better in the end?


3. How would you describe this book: A black comedy (a comic style that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo); a Satire (the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.) or a Morality Tale (a story from which one can derive a moral about right and wrong)?

4. The characters in this book seem to have deep complexities as well as deep secrets. Was there one that stood out to you as being very surprising? Why?


5. Rowling seems to be presenting characters that exhibit the Seven Deadly Sins of lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, wrath, envy, and pride. Which characters do you associate with these shortcomings? Do any of the characters align with The Redeeming Virtues of: humility, kindness, abstinence, chastity, patience, liberality (the quality or condition of being liberal in giving), and diligence?

6. Central to this book are the questions related to the responsibility of caring for the welfare of our fellow human beings. Those questions being “Am I my brother’s keeper?” And “Who is my neighbor?” Which characters changed the most in their understanding of looking out for the welfare of others? Did any of the characters seem to understand this from the beginning of the book? Did this theme affect you personally?