New J.K. Rowling book has a release date, title, AND synopsis!

Color me surprised!

With how far into the year the announcement of J.K. Rowling's first adult novel was announced, I assumed that Little, Brown would publish it in early 2013.  I was WRONG.

The novel, entitled THE CASUAL VACANCY, will release world-wide [in English] on September 27th, 2012.  That's only a few months away!

Here's the synopsis:


Title: THE CASUAL VACANCY
Author: J.K. Rowling
Release Date: Out March 01, 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

SUMMARY:

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.

What are your thoughts?  Will you be reading it?