Oneworld is set to publish Josh Silver’s adult debut in a two-book deal.
Publishing director Wayne Brookes acquired UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada and including audio and “exclusive Europe” to Fruit Fly, scheduled for publication in March 2026, and one other novel by Silver from Clare Wallace at Darley Anderson and Associates.
The book follows Mallory and Leo who live just 10 minutes apart from each other, but in totally different worlds.
Leo is sleeping under bridges and trading sex for survival, while Mallory is a wealthy novelist, her biggest worry being how to follow up her bestselling debut. She is consumed by writer’s block and desperate for a new idea, so she turns to the internet and stumbles on a piece of forum advice that will change her life: “Go gay, go sad, go dark”. Mallory downloads a gay dating app “in a bid to talk to gay men about their truth” and meets Leo, a young struggling addict and sex worker.
The synopsis continues: “Mallory just has to help him… and if she happens to get a book deal out of it too, well, everyone’s a winner, right? But as their lives begin to dangerously overlap, she realises there’s more to Leo than just a sad story. In fact, there’s more to her story too. Because both she and Leo are telling lies, and it might just be time to start telling the truth.”
Brookes said: “When the partial of Fruit Fly dropped on my desk, I had no doubt I wanted to be the publisher guiding Josh into the world of adult fiction. Already a star on Oneworld’s children’s and young adult list, Rock the Boat, the winner of several YA prizes and shortlisted for The Bookseller’s YA Book Prize, Josh is a powerhouse of talent. Fruit Fly contains all the grit, shock and sharp prose that he is known for but for an older market.
“The Oneworld/Rock the Boat team has established Josh as a much-loved, award-winning and hugely admired writer in the YA sphere – his latest book, Traumaland, is publishing in May – and everyone is so excited that he has chosen to stay at Oneworld for his adult titles as they get to work with him all over again.“
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