How do you build real intimacy without losing yourself?
That question sits at the heart of Evan Mark’s Vesper (Kinderspiel Press), a sparkling and sharp literary debut that puts a fresh spin on the modern romance.
Vesper by Evan Mark
Vesper Elsegood is in love. With being single.
She can’t understand why any of her friends would want to settle down. Because if she’s learnt anything about New York’s ruthless dating scene, it’s that love is an ever-changing concept, a silly game, and there are rarely any winners.
But when Caspian walks into her life, an enigmatic and ambitious entrepreneur with a vision for launching a prestigious global prize to celebrate philosophical thinking, Vesper is momentarily undone. And as the chemistry between them intensifies, she soon finds herself re-examining everything—her relationships, her career, her ability to rewrite her own story.
In this restless city, where everyone seems fixated on either finding themselves or finding their perfect match, Vesper must decide whether she’s met the one she wasn’t looking for, or if she’s the only one she really needs…
A bold and unapologetic observation of what it means to be a single woman in New York City, Marks’ debut novel is equal parts emotional portrait, cultural inquiry, and contemporary coming-of-age—a story about subverting gender norms, dismantling inherited narratives, and choosing a life that is wholly one’s own.
Described by Kirkus Reviews as “a stylish tale of the big city with biting psychological insights,” Vesper echoes Candace Bushnell’s Sex and the City and Adelle Waldman’s The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., but elevates the modern dating conversation by pairing social observation with philosophical inquiry, and examining how intimacy, identity, and ambition collide in contemporary urban life.
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Author Interview
At what point did you decide to be an author?
I’ve always had creative pursuits but they were musically driven. I was formally trained in a couple of instruments and also made my way into deejaying and electronic music production. Fiction writing was never really part of my plans, though my best grades in college were associated with heavy essays (law and economics), which I guess gave me some subconscious reassurance that writing a novel wasn’t completely ludicrous.
It wasn’t until 2020 that I had the idea of writing a novel as a covid hobby. Originally, it was a thriller/sci-fi idea centered around a collective false memory known as the Mandela Effect, before I realized the world didn’t need another Dan Brown novel, so I put the pen down.
Fast forward to 2023, and I was watching the Jude Law film, Alfie, and gained some newfound inspiration for a story that evolved into Vesper. The movie (and the play by Bill Naughton it was based on) tells the story of a charismatic male playboy type that traverses the highs and lows of urban dating and I had the idea of doing a similar character study, but with the twist of the protagonist being female. And here we are three years later and the book’s about to get released on May 26, 2026.
Describe your writing process. Do you outline, plot, and plan, or is your writing more organic?
In the case of Vesper, it followed a sort of pyramid approach, in that the high-level aspects came together quickly but the minutiae were more considered. For example, the entirety of the plot was formulated over the course of a four-hour car ride in the Australian countryside and didn’t really deviate from that. The writing of the chapters was more methodical and would generally begin with an outline of what I wanted to accomplish—the location, characters and so on. I’d then visualize the scene in my head and let the characters and dialogue come to life organically. The finer details and some of the narrative were more elaborate of a process, often revisiting or synthesizing a bunch of disparate notes I’d observed or researched, Anton Chekhov-like.
Tell us what you enjoy most about writing.
I like the freedom of communication that the medium allows. You can do whatever you want subject to the limits of your imagination. In some ways, it’s like the piano, in that you can pretty much play any genre and the expression and entertainment will still resonate. I also love that every reader will imagine a scene or character or conversation differently despite having a single, common source.
Describe the book or series in 10 words or less for people just learning about it.
An anti-romance literary novel about independence, love, and self-discovery. Or, as my publicist puts it, “Sex and the City meets Milan Kundera.”
What was the most challenging thing about writing the female first-person?
The biggest challenge was finding examples of other male authors writing the female voice that I could use as a reference to ensure I wouldn’t completely mess things up. I couldn’t find many of them, at least in the first twelve months of writing, so I ended up reading a bunch of books written by female authors, which I referenced in the acknowledgements of Vesper. The three standouts were Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter; Good Girl by Aria Aber, and In A New York Minute by Kate Spencer. Not only were they beautifully written and engaging, they each had very different voices to gather inspiration from. I feel the end result was a female voice that’s maybe 80% accurate and 20% male distorted, which I’m happy with. In my opinion, it’s the infusion of the male with the female that makes the work interesting; otherwise, what’s the point?
Who is your favorite character to write, and why is that person your favorite?
Definitely Neville Bancroft in Vesper. He’s a caricature of the finance personality so many people despise. Highly intelligent, egotistical, crass, opinionated, narcistic and insecure, resulting in a lot of breadth to develop his character and appearances. As real as he might seem, his type is actually not that prevalent in the industry, at least not in this era. More a remnant from the 80’s and 90’s heyday, reminiscent of Gordon Gecko and Patrick Bateman. The firm Vesper works at, Pierce Alliance Group, was actually a nod to the firm Bateman works at, Pierce & Pierce. There’s a bunch of those easter egg things littered throughout the book.
What is your favorite line from your book?
There’s a passage towards the end of the book where Vesper is reflecting on the direness of her work situation. It’s a little morbid but I thought there was something beautiful in the lucidity of her revelation.
Instead I see my whole life flash before my eyes—a feature film where I’m the main character and the plot revolves around me climbing the corporate ladder… Never seeming to be able to find fulfillment but somehow finding contentment from the resignation of such an ambition.
It’s either that or this passage from one of the male POVs that Vesper suddenly cuts things off with after he gets too clingy. Instead of being annoyed or angry, the guy smiles to himself about how masterfully she did it and comes away grateful for the time they had together. I like the poignancy of it, and his reaction summarizes the subtle effect Vesper has on the people she encounters well.
I’ve never been one to chase girls, but I wonder from time to time if I’ll ever run into her again. Though I must admit, the way we ended things left her in such a perfect light, I’d prefer not to ruin it.
Have you been able to incorporate your previous experience in your jobs in your writing?
Investment banking has been a surprisingly helpful outlet to develop my creative instincts. You think it’s all about numbers but a lot of it comes down to connecting the dots, storytelling, finding creative structures to work with, and general analytical thinking. I won’t name any names, but some of the most extravagant creative writing can be found in an IPO prospectus.
And my experience in the music industry helped as well, particularly from a creative process standpoint where you would often find inspiration across a wide variety of sources and somehow weave it all together into a product that was definitively your own. Kind of like a Daft Punk track but without the Grammy.
Share some advice for aspiring authors.
There were a couple of helpful perspectives from my favorite creatives that I’d be happy to pass on.
The first was with regards to writer’s block per Francis Ford Coppola via his daughter Sofia Coppola—two legendary directors in their own right. And the advice was to always leave your writing when you’re hitting your stride and you’re at a part you really like. And the reason for that is because you’ll be excited to return to it the next day.
The second is to make your writing personal. The artist George Condo said it well when he said you want to reach a point where your work is the sum total of everything that ever happened to you. Or as Tarantino said, you should be semi-embarrassed about certain people seeing your work when you’re finished if you’re working on a personal level. It goes back to the point of what your audience is buying into when they review your work versus something more general. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re on the fence about it, I would encourage you to dive in.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Anything that offers a chance to broaden my perspective. Reading, traveling, conversations with friends, conversations with strangers, listening to old music and finding something new to love about it, discovering a new song or artist, walking around the city and noticing cool things, playing chess with someone on the other side of the world. There’s a lot of interesting stuff in the mundane.
About the Author
Evan Marks, an Australian-born writer working in New York City’s financial sector, brings a fresh and quietly incisive perspective to questions of identity, desire, and self-knowledge in the big city.
Website: evan-marks.com
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