After reading Anna Bailey's Tall Bones, I have been eagerly awaiting her next book, Our Last Wild Days and let me tell you it did not disappoint.
Anna has a way of writing about small town American communities that draws you in and leaves you wanting more. This book is set in Louisiana and features a small cast of characters that get under your skin.

Loyal May returns home to assist with her ageing mother and finds herself working for the local newspaper. She'd also like to make things up with a friend she betrayed, but discovers it's too late when Cutter is found dead in a swamp. The police are saying its suicide or an accident and nobody seems to care about investigating further as Cutter comes from the Labasque family who live on the outskirts of Jacknife. Alligator hunters and viewed as trouble by others, they're best left alone. But Loyal believes there's more to it and continues the investigation, along with Sasha - another employee on the paper (and my favourite character).

The plots twists and turns and the ending was unexpected, and although it works and is satisfying, I don't believe this is the strength of this book. The writing is beautifully crafted - some pieces I read over and over. The setting is described in a way that enables you to not only see but you can also feel the place and the heat of it. In relation to the main characters, particularly The Labasques, you may start not liking them and yet as the book progresses, Anna scrapes away the top surface and we find vulnerability and the desire for love underneath. She also shines the spotlight on judging others and I remember the same being true in Tall Bones (which if you've not read - please rectify immediately).

I think you can tell that I loved this book. When you get a copy, make sure you have some free time because once you begin, you'll not want to put it down and the funeral scene makes me want to cry thinking about it now, about a week after finishing the book and not for obvious reasons. The way Anna brought conflict and the decision to do the right thing into this scene was a writing skill I greatly admire.

As a writer myself, my aspirations would be to write like Anna Bailey.

Due to be published in April 2025.

5 stars

I found this story strangely unsettlingly and I mean that as a compliment to the Author. In this tale of murder in the Louisiana bayou, I either afraid for or afraid of most of the main characters. The rich descriptions of the swamps and the poverty stricken people are exceptional. Not an easy book, dealing as it does with the darker side of human nature, but every page is enthralling and to be read with your breath held against what's coming next.

I loved this Southern Gothic tale of violence, murder, and oppression in an area of swamp land that's rich with alligator life. It's densely atmospheric and reminded me of the long tradition of Southern literature like Carson McCullers, Capote, and John Berendt.
The central story about a murdered young woman and her former best friend is gripping and compulsive. The social commentary is well played and there are themes around modern American and the stripping away of women's rights, the rise of men's rights movements and neo-fascism, poverty and drug fuelled desecration. These are well integrated into the plotline and feel like part of the terrain.

If you want an immersive reading experience, then Anna Bailey is an author to read. They write beautifully and are expert in plotting and tension.
It's both a propulsive and beautifully told story and an alarming and accurate social commentary. Highly recommended.

‘People are mostly good, and the dead are just plain old people a little further down the road than us. What you should be worried about is the things that weren’t ever alive in the first place.’

Our Last Wild Days takes a microscope to a small community and the goings-on of the people who reside there. With the backdrop of an unsolved murder in Jacknife, a town steeped in the Louisiana bayou, Bailey explores the various manifestations of grief and how we hold on and let go of one another. They gracefully weave subjects of reproductive health, substance abuse, the cycle of violence and more into this story. We follow multiple characters as they navigate the world without Cutter Labasque, and the truths that come to light in the wake of her death.

I am, once again, in awe of Anna Bailey's ability to unlock a singular, emotional experience with each book they write. I was lucky to get an early copy of Our Last Wild Days through NetGalley, and I sped through this story like you wouldn't imagine. I recognize that this is not the best habit, but I put most all my priorities on the back-burner to take in more and more of Bailey's words as often as I could. One thing about Bailey's writing is that I want to stay in the current moment as long as possible. Nearing the end of one of their books is like coming up on the end of a much needed trip away.

Now to the story: What beautiful and complex these characters are. I have never read a book that takes place in the Louisiana bayou until this one, and now I have a soft spot for the Labasque siblings, who also happen to be alligator hunters. I feel so strongly for these characters. They all have their own perception of what they call home in the people in it, and like most who stay in one place for a while, they come to find new truths about their home, good, bad, and ugly.

I cannot recommend this story enough. If you loved Where The Truth Lies (Tall Bones in the UK), Bailey's second book will not disappoint. Our Last Wild Days comes out April 24, 2025. Preorder, wait at the door until your local bookshop opens on pub day, whatever. Just get your hands on it asap. Thank you again to the publisher for granting me an early copy, my first one at that! Started off with a bang,

Lastly, I wish I could share every single quote I kept, and I will hold onto these dearly for a long time. Thank you Anna Bailey for a new favorite.