By . Suzannah Hills . PUBLISHED: . 06:15 EST, 22 September 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 10:15 EST, 22 September 2012 . J.K. Rowling has revealed that her time as a single mother surviving on benefits helped to inspire her latest book offering about class divides. The Casual Vacancy begins with the . unexpected death of Barry Fairbrother, whose demise in his early 40s . leaves a space on the parish council in the fictional West Country . village of Pagford. The book features a wide variety of characters from every part of society - including a grotty council estate - and J.K. Rowling is keen to get readers thinking about how circumstances have a dramatic effect on people's outlook and on their future. Not long to wait: J.K. Rowling's new book for adults The Casual Vacancy is released on September 27 . Speaking to the Guardian about her first novel for adults, she said: 'So many . people, certainly people who sit around the cabinet table, say: "Well, . it worked for me" or "This is how my father managed it". 'The idea that other people might have . had such a different life experience that their choices and beliefs and . behaviours would be completely different … seems to escape a lot of . otherwise intelligent people. 'The poor are discussed as this . homogeneous mash, like porridge … They talk about feckless teenage . mothers looking for a council flat. Well, how tragic is it that that's . what someone regards as the height of security or safety? 'What would your life be like if that's . the only possible path you can see for yourself? But I don't know if . that's a question some people ask themselves.' Rowling herself knows the difference . £10 a week can make to families struggling on benefits or a low wage and . class and social status are running themes through out her novel. Little Brown described the new book as a 'blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising' novel. JK Rowling's Harry Potter book series was turned into films starring Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley . Global brand: JK Rowling launched Pottermore - a free-to-use website, which builds an online experience around the reading of her hugely successful Harry Potter books . It has already shot on to the best . seller list after more than a million pre-order sales - and it's not . even released until Thursday. Waterstones . has revealed that the book has received the largest number of . pre-orders this year while online orders are understood to have already . topped more than one million. The Casual Vacancy has been listed on . the Amazon.co.uk bestseller list since the publishing date was announced . 'on the strength of pre-orders alone'. The recommended retail price for the . novel is £20 but many retail outlets are offering discounts with many . pricing it at around £10. The novel will hit shelves on . September 27 and book stores are predicting it will start the run of . 'Super Thursday' release days on the run-up to Christmas. Jon Howells, spokesman for . Waterstones, told The Independent: 'I think we will see a fantastic . level of first day and first weekend sales and after that people will . come to it more steadily. 'A lot of the readers will be interested in what this book can do for them. 'There was a huge sense of urgency . with the Harry Potter books and people wanted to read them quickly so . that they would not find out the plot through other mediums, while this . is a standalone story.' Rowling has now amassed a fortune . estimated to be more than £620 million from her seven Harry Potter books . for children, plus all the spin-off rights. The books have sold more than 450 million copies and have been translated into 74 languages. She admits her financial independence . has given her the opportunity to now work on whatever she wants and . write things the way she wants to write them. This will be her first novel since her final Potter book was published in 2007. Popular: The Harry Potter books were so eagerly anticipated that Amazon had a 24 hour round the clock guard protecting their stock ahead of the releases . Diehard fans: Every time a book was released, Harry Potter fans would queue outside book stores for hours so they could be one of the first to read the latest installment .
Rowling's first book for adults called The Casual Vacancy is released September 27 .
By . Suzannah Hills . PUBLISHED: . 06:15 EST, 22 September 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 10:15 EST, 22 September 2012 . J.K. Rowling has revealed that her time as a single mother surviving on benefits helped to inspire her latest book offering about class divides. The Casual Vacancy begins with the . unexpected death of Barry Fairbrother, whose demise in his early 40s . leaves a space on the parish council in the fictional West Country . village of Pagford. The book features a wide variety of characters from every part of society - including a grotty council estate - and J.K. Rowling is keen to get readers thinking about how circumstances have a dramatic effect on people's outlook and on their future. Not long to wait: J.K. Rowling's new book for adults The Casual Vacancy is released on September 27 . Speaking to the Guardian about her first novel for adults, she said: 'So many . people, certainly people who sit around the cabinet table, say: "Well, . it worked for me" or "This is how my father managed it". 'The idea that other people might have . had such a different life experience that their choices and beliefs and . behaviours would be completely different … seems to escape a lot of . otherwise intelligent people. 'The poor are discussed as this . homogeneous mash, like porridge … They talk about feckless teenage . mothers looking for a council flat. Well, how tragic is it that that's . what someone regards as the height of security or safety? 'What would your life be like if that's . the only possible path you can see for yourself? But I don't know if . that's a question some people ask themselves.' Rowling herself knows the difference . £10 a week can make to families struggling on benefits or a low wage and . class and social status are running themes through out her novel. Little Brown described the new book as a 'blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising' novel. JK Rowling's Harry Potter book series was turned into films starring Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley . Global brand: JK Rowling launched Pottermore - a free-to-use website, which builds an online experience around the reading of her hugely successful Harry Potter books . It has already shot on to the best . seller list after more than a million pre-order sales - and it's not . even released until Thursday. Waterstones . has revealed that the book has received the largest number of . pre-orders this year while online orders are understood to have already . topped more than one million. The Casual Vacancy has been listed on . the Amazon.co.uk bestseller list since the publishing date was announced . 'on the strength of pre-orders alone'. The recommended retail price for the . novel is £20 but many retail outlets are offering discounts with many . pricing it at around £10. The novel will hit shelves on . September 27 and book stores are predicting it will start the run of . 'Super Thursday' release days on the run-up to Christmas. Jon Howells, spokesman for . Waterstones, told The Independent: 'I think we will see a fantastic . level of first day and first weekend sales and after that people will . come to it more steadily. 'A lot of the readers will be interested in what this book can do for them. 'There was a huge sense of urgency . with the Harry Potter books and people wanted to read them quickly so . that they would not find out the plot through other mediums, while this . is a standalone story.' Rowling has now amassed a fortune . estimated to be more than £620 million from her seven Harry Potter books . for children, plus all the spin-off rights. The books have sold more than 450 million copies and have been translated into 74 languages. She admits her financial independence . has given her the opportunity to now work on whatever she wants and . write things the way she wants to write them. This will be her first novel since her final Potter book was published in 2007. Popular: The Harry Potter books were so eagerly anticipated that Amazon had a 24 hour round the clock guard protecting their stock ahead of the releases . Diehard fans: Every time a book was released, Harry Potter fans would queue outside book stores for hours so they could be one of the first to read the latest installment .
J.K. Rowling's new book for adults The Casual Vacancy is released on September 27 . Speaking to