Legend Press snaps up first contemporary novel from Bloom

Legend Press has secured Permission, the first contemporary novel from Jo Bloom.  

Cari Rosen, commissioning editor, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada and audio, from Rowan Lawton at The Soho Agency. The novel will be published on 28th July 2022. 

Bloom’s debut novel Ridley Road (Orion), published in 2014, has been recently adapted into a major four-part series for BBC One.  

The synopsis for Permission reads: “Can your marriage survive if you’re both having sex with other people? After more than 20 years of marriage, Fay and Steve are happy enough, though life has become routine and lacks excitement. Fay believes an open relationship could reignite the spark they have lost. But can sex ever just be sex? Steve eventually agrees to the idea of sleeping with other people, but first they must set some ground rules; no sex with friends, no telling the kids, and a limit on how many times they can see the same person. Can their marriage survive non-monogamy—even if they have permission?”  

Bloom commented: “I’m delighted that Permission has found a home at Legend. Cari completely understood what I was trying to explore in the book and the whole team have impressed me with their ambitions for it and their spirit of collaboration.”  

Rosen added: “I love Jo’s writing and so am delighted to be working with her on this brilliantly relatable novel. A long marriage, balancing the demands of small children and older parents together with the pressures of work, hitting 40 and thinking, ’is this it?’ and wanting to shake things up a bit… These are things that so many of us can recognise immediately, even if our own solutions might not be quite the same as Fay’s.”