Millennial Love host Olivia Petter to release debut novel Gold Rush

Novel has been described as ‘a sharp, witty novel about expectation, consent, and celebrity culture’

Olivia Petter, The Independent’s feature writer and podcast host, is set to release her debut novel.

On Tuesday (10 January), it was announced that Millennial Love podcast host Petter has signed a publishing deal with Fourth Estate for her first fiction book Gold Rush.

The novel has been described as “a sharp, witty novel about expectation, consent, and celebrity culture” and is scheduled for release in summer 2024.

The rights to Gold Rush were acquired by editor Michelle Kane, who described Petter as a “fierce talent”.

Petter said: “Gold Rush is a story I’ve wanted to tell for a long time – and I owe it to Michelle for helping me realise that and giving me the opportunity to do it. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to write a novel and I’m so excited to put this one out into the world and feel connected to those who read and relate to it.

“Even though it’s fiction, this feels like my most personal piece of work to date, which is both terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure.”

Petter has hosted The Independent’s award-nominated Millennial Love podcast, a show exploring sexuality, relationships and identity, since 2017.

An accompanying non-fiction book of the same name, written by Petter, was released in July 2021, to critical praise.

Kane added: “[Petter’s] first book demonstrated that she’s not afraid to take risks to excavate the darker underbelly of the twenty-something experience.

“With Gold Rush she’s applying that same fearlessness to deliver a perceptive, clever and propulsive novel that goes straight to the heart of so many contemporary issues, as well as having the reader race to the end to discover what fate lies ahead for her characters.”