Rowling Entering the Adult Fiction Realm

It's been nearly five years since J.K. Rowling's final "Harry Potter" book was released. Since then, there have been multiple film releases, Pottermore, and the HP eBooks were birthed. And now, Rowling's UK publisher Little, Brown announces her return to the shelves with her first foray into adult literature.

Here's more from the publisher's website:

The book will be published worldwide in the English language in hardback, ebook, unabridged audio download and on CD on Thursday 27th September 2012.

The Casual Vacancy

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

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?

Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.

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I've got to admit, I'm not convinced that this book with be a hit. I have a sneaking suspicion it will make that sad and painful belly-flop noise. The Rowling name is linked so closely with children's literature and the fantasy genre that a jump to a "blackly comic" literary adult novel seems too drastic to work. It's also such a vastly different style of writing and Rowling is so well-versed in her past technique/voice/etc. that I can't imagine her writing something so different. But I am eager to find out if she pulls it off and learn just how far her writing chops span.