Sally Rooney’s books reportedly withdrawn from UK shelves over Palestine Action support

•  Faber has stopped supplying Sally Rooney's books in the UK in every format, after concluding it cannot hand her British earnings without legal risk.
• The problem stems from Rooney's stated intention to back Palestine Action, a group proscribed as terrorist in the UK in July 2025.
• Rooney says she agreed to the decision and is "prepared to accept the consequences."

 One of the best-known novelists of her generation is disappearing from British bookshops, not because of poor sales or controversy over her writing, but because of the way anti-terrorism law intersects with her politics. Sally Rooney, the Irish author of Normal People, announced this week that her publisher can no longer supply her books in the UK, a consequence she attributes to her public support for Palestine Action.

Rooney said the proscription of Palestine Action last July meant that fulfilling her UK publishing contracts "could now constitute a serious criminal offense." Having declared in an Aug. 2025 opinion piece that she would continue supporting the group, which remains legal in the Republic of Ireland, she argues that routing UK royalties to her created unacceptable legal exposure. After consultation, Faber concluded it must withdraw her work from the British market entirely.

Faber described the situation as "unconscionable" for a publisher: selling an author's books while being unable to pay her. The company said it remains proud of her work and will keep selling it elsewhere.

The legal concern centers on Section 15 of the Terrorism Act, which criminalizes providing money or property when one knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect, that it may be used for terrorism. The maximum penalty is 14 years in prison. Rooney has said that the producer of the BBC adaptations of her novels advised that paying her would risk breaching the law if it suspected the funds would go to the group. She also cancelled a UK trip to collect an award, fearing arrest.

Reaction was swift. Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori, who is leading the legal challenge to the ban, called the development "a new low" for free expression. Kerry Moscogiuri, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, said that regardless of views on the group, everyone should worry when counter-terrorism law ends up silencing artistic freedom and peaceful dissent. She warned that others might conclude they cannot afford to speak out.

On the ground, the picture was mixed. Rooney's titles were still on sale in central London on Wednesday, and Waterstones confirmed it could continue selling existing stock. A bookseller at Henry Pordes Books noted that secondhand and existing copies send nothing to the author. A bookseller at the London Review Bookshop said he had reordered immediately after the news but feared supply would soon dry up, and called the law "ridiculous."

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