Mark Illis writes novels, short stories, radio plays and TV drama. He is the author of four novels, A CHINESE SUMMER, THE ALCHEMIST, THE FEATHER REPORT and a collection of connected short stories, TENDER. His new novel THE LAST WORD was published by Salt in 2011.

Mark Illis is a great stylist: eloquent, graceful, quiet. His work has wonderful subtlety and surprising strength.
Anne Enright

THE LAST WORD

When Gloria meets Stephen, it doesn't go well. It's hard to get to know someone when death, mysterious messages and an inconvenient spider are complicating things. They become entangled in a mystery which unravels in surprising ways over the course of one week. At the end of that week, the world will seem entirely different.

Gloria 'is marvellously original … this is an engaging novel of flawed and vulnerable individuals edging towards each other, and away again,in a lobster quadrille of tentativeness.'
The Guardian

Shortlisted for the Portico Prize