Our Last Wild Days: From the author of the Sunday Times bestseller TALL BONES

Anna Bailey

Apr 2025 · Random House

About this ebook

The gripping new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Tall Bones, the haunting bestseller and Book of the Month for the Guardian, Grazia and the Observer.

'A propulsive, bold and brutal slice of Southern Gothic brilliance. Anna Bailey writes so beautifully about family, friendship, loyalty and betrayal, yet also delivers a truly atmospheric thriller.'
Chris Whitaker, author of All the Colours of the Dark and We Begin at the End

'A bewitching slice of southern Gothic, in Our Last Wild Days, Anna Bailey cements her reputation for writing thought provoking, character driven crime fiction.' Paula Hawkins, bestselling author of The Girl on the Train

‘Sublime. The best thing I’ve read in ages.’ Will Dean, author of The Chamber

'I couldn't put it down' 5-star reader review
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‘There's nothing like it. The way the world gets real quiet when a gator’s nearby...And then the water, suddenly boiling as that black head surfaces and the ancient reptile erupts into the air hissing like a devil...’

The Labasques aren’t like other families.

Living in a shack out in the swamps, they scrape a living hunting down alligators just to get by. To the good people of Jacknife, Louisiana, they are trouble-makers, outcasts, the kind of people you wouldn’t want living on your doorstep.

So when Cutter Labasque is found face down in the muddy swamp, no one seems to care, not even her two rough-cut brothers. The only person who questions the official verdict of suicide is Cutter’s childhood friend, Loyal May, who has just returned home to care for her ageing mother.

Loyal left town at the age of 18, having betrayed everything she valued most. Now, there may be no way for her to find forgiveness, but there may be restitution...

Set against the haunting beauty of Southern Louisiana, Our Last Wild Days is a stunning, evocative novel about the ways in which we come to understand our place in the world.
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PRAISE FOR OUR LAST WILD DAYS:

'The prose sings, the storytelling is exquisite. A rare, extraordinary talent' C.J.Cooke, bestselling author of The Lighthouse Witches

'A sweltering fever dream of a novel – brimming with atmosphere, tension, and a truly unforgettable cast of characters.' Colin Walsh, bestselling author of Kala

'With a setting as atmospheric as Where the Crawdads Sing...a stunningly written thriller' Nikki Smith, author of Look What You Made Me Do

'Filled with lines worth tattooing and passages worth framing. This is a book that will sink into your bones' Megan Collins, author of Cross my Heart

'Anna Bailey is the master of things that move in the dark, with language so lush you feel like you could reach out and touch it' Hayley Scrivenor, bestselling author of Dirt Town

'Raw and unflinching, Anna Bailey’s Our Last Wild Days is about the mystery of how anyone survives as much as it is the mystery of how one woman didn’t...a stunner.' Ashley Winstead, author of Midnight is the Darkest Hour

'I didn't want this one to end...a perfect crime thriller' 5-star reader review

'A propulsive and beautifully told story...highly recommended' 5-star reader review

'Phenomenal...An absolutely compulsive read' 5-star reader review

'A true literary delight' 5-star reader review

About the author

Anna Bailey is a Sunday Times bestselling author from Gloucestershire. Their debut novel, Tall Bones, inspired by their experiences living in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, was nominated for the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year and Goldsboro Glass Bell awards, as well as the Prix Nouvelles Voix du Polar. Their short stories, based on their travels through rural America, have been dramatised for BBC Radio 4, including ‘Long Way to Come For a Sip of Water’, which was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. They live in Bordeaux with their wife.