Author J.K. Rowling’s first post-Harry Potter novel is getting the television treatment. BBC One and BBC Drama are teaming up on a series adaptation of Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy.  The book hit shelves this September and was met with a fairly positive response, though Rowling admittedly wrote a novel that was wildly different from her beloved Harry Potter series.  The story focuses on the lives of a number of people living in a small town who are affected by the sudden death of a town council member, but it's not exactly that simple.  Hit the jump for more details on the series.

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The book isn't simply a story about small-town living, as it explores themes of social class structure, the welfare state, drugs, and politics with a starkly straightforward manner.  The author will collaborate closely with producers on the television adaptation, and had this to say about the project (per Deadline):

“I’m thrilled that the BBC has commissioned The Casual Vacancy. I always felt that, if it were to be adapted, this novel was best suited to television and I think the BBC is the perfect home.”

No word on who will running things creatively, but this seems like the best route for an adaptation of The Casual Vacancy.  Not only does the BBC bring a certain air of sophistication to their series, but their penchant for limited runs should ensure that the series doesn't start spinning its wheels into its 8th or 9th season.  The show is expected to debut in 2014.  Read the synopsis for Rowling’s novel below:

When Barry Fairbrother 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 town’s 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. [Amazon]