British booksellers are caught up in a battle over terrorism and free speech after Irish novelist Sally Rooney said her books can no longer be sold in the U.K. because she financially supports the banned group Palestine Action.
The announcement by Rooney’s British publisher that it will no longer distribute her books has reignited debate over the U.K. government’s decision last year to outlaw the direct-action protest group as a terrorist organization. The ban makes membership in or support for Palestine Action a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison
Rooney, 35, is the critically praised author of four novels: “Conversations with Friends,” “Normal People,” “Beautiful World, Where are You” and “Intermezzo.” Her books have sold millions of copies, and both “Conversations with Friends” and “Normal People” were adapted for television by the BBC. She supports the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which calls for boycotts of Israeli businesses, universities and cultural institutions over Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. Israel views the movement as an attack on the legitimacy of the Jewish state.
After the U.K. banned Palestine Action in July 2025, Rooney said she would use proceeds from her books and their TV adaptations to support the group. On Wednesday her U.K. publisher, Faber, said that paying her royalties could violate the terror ban and it had “taken the decision that we can no longer supply her works in the U.K. in any format.”
It said the decision had been made with Rooney’s agreement.
Faber’s announcement left British bookstores scrambling to understand whether they were breaking the law by selling Rooney’s books.
The Booksellers Association later said it had “confirmed with Faber that whilst those titles are no longer available to U.K. bookshops to order, they can continue to sell their existing stock within the U.K. market.”
Some stores rushed to stock up on Rooney’s novels, but found distributors had already run out.
“We were thinking, we’ll just get a whole bunch before we stop being able to,” said Lucy Burke, a bookseller at London’s Camden Town Bookshop. “Because she’s a hugely popular seller here, and quite evergreen. But now it seems like what we have is all we’re going to have.”
Burke described the situation as “absolutely ridiculous” and said it amounted to censorship of “one of our most prominent writers.” (AP)
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