Books like The Casual Vacancy

The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling reads as bleak, satirical. These 12 books share its genome — matched by how they actually read, not just their shelf label.

The way of all flesh

Samuel Butler · 1900

Both explore hypocrisy

62% genome match

Shirley

Charlotte Bronte

Both explore class

54% genome match

The three clerks

Anthony Trollope · 1858

Same literary feel

57% genome match

Birnam Wood

Eleanor Catton

Both explore community & class

55% genome match

Felix Holt, the Radical

George Eliot

Both explore class

60% genome match

Resurrection

Leo Tolstoy

Both explore class

60% genome match

The House of Mirth

Edith Wharton · 1905

Both explore class

51% genome match

Jude the Obscure

Thomas Hardy · 1895

Both explore class

51% genome match

Novels (Christmas Carol / Great Expectations / Oliver Twist / Tale of Two Cities)

Charles Dickens · 1970

Both explore poverty

56% genome match

The old wives' tale

Arnold Bennett · 1900

Both explore class

51% genome match

The Tortilla Curtain

T.C. Boyle · 1996

Both explore class & community

57% genome match

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen · 1813

Both explore class

46% genome match