JK Rowling, famed inventor of Harry Potter, is collaborating with BBC on adapting her adult novel, The Casual Vacancy, into a television drama.
The drama is set to air in 2014.
Set in a small-town community in England’s West Country, the drama — like the novel — centers on the unexpected death of character Barry Fairbrother, which shocks local villagers.
Rowling is reportedly thrilled that the book will be televised.
“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.”
BBC One controller Danny Cohen said he was excited to bring Rowling’s latest work to audiences.
“[Her] story-telling is of course peerless in its popularity, and I am looking forward to collaborating with her,” he said.
The series will be produced by an independent production company with Rick Senat as executive producer and will by aired on BBC One.
Rowling’s first adult novel received mixed reviews when it was released in September. Newspaper critics alternately described the work as “unadventurous,” “bleak,” and “brilliant.” Publishers Little Brown and Co described the novel as “blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising.”
It sold 125,000 copies in its first week on the market becoming the fastest-selling hardback in the UK for three years and the second biggest seller since records began in 1998.
More than 450 million copies of Rowling’s seven Potter books have been sold worldwide, and Rowling says that the next book she publishes will be for children.
“I think probably the next thing I write, or the next thing I publish, will be for children,” she said.
She told fans that she had a “number of ideas on my laptop” but wouldn’t reveal the details about what she had been working on. Rowling also noted that she will be writing for audiences even younger than Harry Potter’s audience.
Do you think Rowling should stick to kids books?