The Casual Vacancy recap

Parish councillor Barry Fairbrother dies suddenly, leaving both a council vacancy and a struggle over whether Pagford should retain the poor Fields estate and its addiction clinic. Howard Mollison backs his son Miles to reverse Barry's policy, while Colin Wall and Simon Price also stand. Their children use the council website under the name the Ghost of Barry Fairbrother to publish humiliating family secrets, turning private resentments into political weapons. Miles wins, but the disclosures destabilize several households. Meanwhile social worker Kay Bawden tries to protect the Weedon family, and Barry's former rowing pupil Krystal struggles to care for her brother Robbie while their mother relapses. Krystal seeks security through a reckless plan involving Fats Wall. Robbie wanders to the river and drowns despite Sukhvinder Jawanda's rescue attempt; Krystal then kills herself with heroin. The deaths force moments of honesty and grief but do not heal Pagford's divisions. Howard survives a heart attack, Miles holds the council seat, and the policies Barry opposed remain ascendant.

Barry Fairbrother collapses and dies from an aneurysm, shocking the small West Country town of Pagford. His empty parish-council seat is politically important because Barry had resisted transferring the neighbouring Fields estate to Yarvil and defended the Bellchapel addiction clinic used by its residents. Howard Mollison sees a chance to complete the transfer and encourages his son Miles to stand. Barry's allies, including Parminder Jawanda, grieve both the man and the likely loss of his vote. Around the dispute, the novel introduces several strained families: the Mollisons, the Walls, the Jawandas, the Prices, and social worker Kay Bawden, who has moved to Pagford for the reluctant Gavin Hughes. In the Fields, teenager Krystal Weedon tries to care for her younger brother Robbie while their mother Terri's recovery remains precarious.

The election takes shape around Miles Mollison, Barry's anxious friend Colin Wall, and the abusive Simon Price. The adults present respectable public versions of themselves while their children carry private anger and shame. Andrew Price, who knows his father's illegal dealings and is comfortable with computers, finds a way to post anonymously on the parish website as the Ghost of Barry Fairbrother. The first disclosures turn family secrets into public allegations and threaten the candidates' reputations. At school, Fats Wall continues his campaign of deliberate cruelty in the name of authenticity, while Sukhvinder Jawanda conceals the harm caused by sustained bullying. Kay works with Terri Weedon and believes Bellchapel's treatment is helping, but the family's progress is vulnerable to decisions made far beyond the Fields.

More people exploit the Ghost's anonymity, publishing damaging truths about relatives and opponents. Simon's candidacy collapses under exposure, and revelations about Colin's obsessive fears weaken him as well. Miles remains the strongest candidate and wins the vacant seat, giving Howard's faction the advantage Barry had prevented. The online attacks also deepen conflicts inside the Jawanda, Wall, Price, and Mollison homes. Krystal begins a sexual relationship with Fats, whose claim to reject hypocrisy leaves him largely indifferent to the consequences for her. Terri's fragile recovery deteriorates amid pressure, exploitation, and inadequate support. Kay's attempt to protect the Weedons is undermined, while her relationship with Gavin becomes increasingly clearly one-sided.

Krystal concludes that having a baby may help her keep a family together and preserve a place for Robbie, and she tries to draw Fats into the plan. Their encounter near the river leaves Robbie unattended. The small boy wanders away and falls into the water. Sukhvinder sees the emergency and dives after him, risking herself in a determined rescue attempt. The crisis brings together people whose private grievances and public arguments have kept them from recognizing the accumulating danger around the Weedon children.

Robbie cannot be saved. Krystal blames herself for leaving him and, with the family future she imagined destroyed, deliberately takes heroin and dies. Sukhvinder survives her effort to rescue Robbie and is finally seen by her family in light of her courage rather than her perceived shortcomings. Fats's philosophy of detachment collapses under the consequences of his conduct, and he seeks comfort from Tessa. The Ghost's disclosures contribute to upheaval among the adults: Howard suffers a heart attack after his affair becomes known but survives, while the Mollisons' relationships are badly strained. Kay accepts that Gavin will not commit to her and prepares to leave Pagford with her daughter. Miles retains the council seat, so Barry's political cause has lost even as the town gathers for the funeral of Krystal and Robbie. Their deaths expose the human cost beneath the argument over the Fields, but Pagford ends the story divided and without a collective remedy.

Robbie Weedon wanders away while Krystal is with Fats and falls into the river. Sukhvinder dives in after him despite the danger and is injured during the rescue attempt, but Robbie dies. Krystal, overwhelmed by guilt and unable to imagine a future that will keep her family together, deliberately takes a fatal heroin overdose. The double death exposes the cost of Pagford's neglect without producing a clear public reckoning. Fats abandons his pose of emotional detachment and turns to Tessa, while Sukhvinder receives at last the recognition and tenderness that had been withheld from her. Kay and Gaia prepare to leave Pagford after Gavin makes clear that he will not build the life Kay expected. Howard survives a heart attack after the disclosure of his affair, and the Mollisons retain political power through Miles's election, although their family relationships have been damaged. At the funeral for Krystal and Robbie, the town's factions briefly occupy the same space, but the social divisions Barry Fairbrother tried to bridge remain. The vacancy has been filled; the failures revealed around it have not been repaired.