Sally Rooney's Novels Pulled From UK Shelves as Publisher Cites Terrorism Law
On Wednesday, Irish novelist Sally Rooney and her publisher Faber & Faber said in parallel statements that her work will no longer be supplied in the United Kingdom "in any format." Four novels are affected: Conversations with Friends, Normal People, Beautiful World, Where Are You and Intermezzo, published in 2024. Faber is both her UK and her Irish publisher.
Rooney's ebooks have already been removed from UK retail channels, the BBC reported, while physical copies already held by warehouses and shops are not being recalled and may be sold through. Waterstones confirmed to the BBC that Faber had advised there were no restrictions on booksellers keeping current copies on the shelves. The Guardian, visiting London bookshops on Wednesday, found her titles still on display.
Faber's statement was blunt about the cause: "Current legislation in the UK has led to circumstances where Faber cannot pass on UK earnings to Sally Rooney for her work." It went on: "To sell a writer's work and not be able to pass on earnings is an unconscionable situation for a publisher. As such, and in full agreement with Sally, we have taken the decision that we can no longer supply her works in the UK in any format. We remain the proud publisher of her remarkable body of work, which we will continue to sell in other territories." Section 15 of the Terrorism Act makes it an offence to provide money or property while knowing or having reasonable cause to suspect it may be used for the purposes of terrorism; the maximum penalty is 14 years in prison.
Rooney set out the sequence herself: Palestine Action, a direct-action protest group, was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK in July 2025; the following month she wrote an opinion piece saying she would go on supporting it, noting that it is neither proscribed nor otherwise prohibited in the Republic of Ireland, where she lives. As a result, she said, "the fulfilment of contracts to publish my work in the UK could now constitute a serious criminal offence," and after consultation and deliberation Faber had determined it could no longer supply her work there. "I have made every effort to be honest with the public about my beliefs and intentions, and I am wholly prepared to accept the consequences," she said, adding she had no further comment.
Writing in The Irish Times in August 2025, Rooney said: "I too support Palestine Action. If this makes me a 'supporter of terror' under UK law, so be it." She cancelled a September 2025 trip to London to collect the Sky Arts Award for literature over fears she could be arrested on entry, and in November 2025 submitted a witness statement to the High Court in support of the legal challenge to the proscription, arguing it impeded free expression, including cultural and artistic expression. She has also said the independent producer of the television adaptations advised her that paying her for those series could breach terrorism law.
Rooney has sold more than six million books worldwide, including 2.3 million in the UK, according to NielsenIQ BookData. Normal People alone has sold more than one million copies in the UK, while Conversations with Friends and Beautiful World, Where Are You have each passed 500,000. Normal People, published in 2018, became a hit series two years later that helped launch the careers of Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Rooney has said she would donate proceeds from her books and the BBC adaptations to Palestine Action.
The withdrawal concerns new supply and royalty settlement inside the UK; Ireland falls outside the ban and Faber continues selling her work elsewhere. British shops can still sell the copies they hold, so readers may still find her books for now, but the replenishment channel is closed. Within publishing, the wider question is risk: if even passing on royalties can constitute an offence, film and television partners, agents and translators will reassess their exposure.
Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, told The Guardian: "Sally Rooney being unable to publish her work in the UK marks a new low in the escalating assault on free speech caused by the proscription of Palestine Action." She praised Rooney for refusing "to compromise her convictions, even at considerable personal and professional cost." Amnesty International has also criticised the consequences for freedom of expression.
The challenge to the proscription itself continues. In February 2026 the High Court ruled the ban unlawful and disproportionate; in June the Court of Appeal overturned that decision and held the proscription lawful. On 30 July, Ammori was granted leave to appeal to the UK Supreme Court, with a hearing set for 4 and 5 November. Criminal cases involving Palestine Action have been delayed until 26 October as a result. The court's ruling will decide whether Rooney's situation is an exception or the new normal.