Irish novelist Sally Rooney, the author of Normal People, has said her books will no longer be supplied to booksellers in the UK. She linked the decision to her backing for Palestine Action, a group the British government has proscribed as a terrorist organisation.
In a statement, Rooney said that further publication of her work could amount to a “serious criminal offence”. She and her publisher, Faber, have therefore agreed to stop supplying her titles in the UK. Her earlier comments about directing her earnings to the group had led to this point.
Publisher Faber explains its decision
Rooney said she had made “every effort” to be open about her views and was “wholly prepared to accept the consequences”. Ebook editions have already been taken off sale in the UK, but many bookshops still hold physical copies on their shelves.
Waterstones confirmed that Faber had told booksellers there were no restrictions on keeping their current copies on display. The publisher has said that UK legislation now prevents it from passing UK earnings on to Rooney for her work. Faber described this as an “unconscionable situation” for a publisher.
Faber said that, in full agreement with Rooney, it had concluded it could no longer supply her works in the UK in any format. It added that it would continue to sell her books in other territories, calling her body of work remarkable.
Rooney’s sales and her novels affected
According to NielsenIQ BookData, Rooney has sold more than six million books worldwide, including 2.3 million in the UK. Four of her novels will be removed from sale in the country, among them her most recent book, Intermezzo.
The others include Conversations With Friends and Beautiful World, Where Are You. Normal People was published in 2018, and its television adaptation two years later helped launch the acting careers of Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones.
Rooney’s position on Palestine Action
In her statement on Wednesday, Rooney recalled that the direct-action protest group had been proscribed in the UK in July 2025. She said that the following month she had written an opinion piece setting out her intention to keep supporting the group. She noted that it is not proscribed in the Republic of Ireland, where she lives.
In an article for the Irish Times last August, Rooney said she would keep using proceeds from her work to back the group, despite this being an offence in the UK. She also cancelled a trip to the UK to collect an award, citing fears that she would be arrested.
Rooney said on Wednesday that fulfilling contracts to publish her work in the UK could now constitute a serious criminal offence. After what she described as consultation and deliberation, her publisher had decided it could no longer supply her work within the UK.
The UK government proscribed Palestine Action in 2025, citing a “long history” of criminal damage. The group has targeted arms companies linked to Israel’s war in Gaza.
Reaction and the ongoing legal challenge
Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori said Rooney had taken “a brave and principled stand” from the moment plans to ban the group were announced. Ammori said the withdrawal of the author’s work was “a new low” in what she called an escalating assault on free speech.
More than 3,700 people are believed to have been arrested in the UK over alleged support for Palestine Action. About 2,500 have been charged, but none have gone to trial. A legal challenge to the proscription continues and is due to be heard by the Supreme Court next month.
