Our Last Wild Days by Anna Bailey

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