Rowling’s book selling well in region

The recent release of J.K. Rowling’s new adult novel, The Casual Vacancy has generated a huge buzz in the Middle East and beyond after it hit bookstores only in late September.

“The opening weekend sales for The Casual Vacancy were excellent, in line with our forecast,” Iain Paul Martin, senior books buyer at Virgin Megastore Middle East and North Africa region, told Gulf News. “This is going to be one of the biggest sellers of the year for us.”

This is the first adult novel that the Harry Potter book author has published and loyal fans have been in anticipation since the release of the title in April. The long wait is easily understandable, though, given that the Harry Potter series sold around 450 million copies worldwide.

Even with such a staggering figure and JK Rowling being the world’s most successful living writer, sales for The Casual Vacancy are not expected to meet those of Harry Potter.

“Obviously it’s not as big as a Harry Potter book, which was a global must-read phenomenon whereas this is very obviously a book for grown-ups,” Martin said.

Sales were not very different at other bookstores across the UAE.

One week after its release “The Casual Vacancy” sold 80 copies at WH Smith bookstores across Dubai following a month of pre-orders, Purchasing Manager, Sreevas Sreedhar, told Gulf News.

Sreedhar described the book sales as “much less” compared to the Harry Potter series. He attributed that to the fact that The Casual Vacancy is an adult novel.

One die-hard Harry Potter fan assured he was going to buy the book simply because he is fascinated by all the works of JK Rowling.

“After seven great Harry Potter books, it is a must,” said Omar Gazzal, a university student and an avid Harry Potter fan. “You expect nothing but the best from someone who was able to write something as creative as Harry Potter. I’d read anything she writes.”

The Casual Vacancy is a black comedy about a town at war. The setting of the story is in a fictional town named Pagford. Much unlike Hogwarts and Diagon Alley, Pagford is crowded with muggles who hide behind the pretty facade of their town. However, when Barry Fairbrother, a councilman, dies, the rest of the characters reveal their true, dark side as many of them fight for his seat. As the town goes into war, other hidden issues rise to the surface such as fights between teenagers and parents, fights between husbands and wives, drug addiction, sexual frustration and disguised racism among other issues.

Despite the huge differences between the Harry Potter series and The Casual Vacancy, JK Rowling is confident about her new book, saying that “the book is what I wanted it to be.” She added that it is “the best I can do.”

The novel is strictly for adults as it includes strong language, sexual content and deals with material rated for ages 18-plus such as drug abuse. As such topics would have probably been banned under Dumbledore’s administration, JK Rowling said she enjoyed the freedom of writing for an adult audience.

The Casual Vacancy costs £20 (Dh119) in Britain. It is also available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch on iTunes at $17.99 (Dh66). It can be found on Amazon.com for $20.90 (Dh77). It is sold at various bookstores across the UAE at prices starting from approximately Dh110 to Dh130.