Can You Still Buy Sally Rooney Books in the UK? Titles Withdrawn Despite ‘Normal People’ Selling One Million Copies
Rooney’s publisher stops UK book supplies over her support for Palestine Action
ByRia Pathak Published 15 October 2026, 9:27 AM BST
Published in 2018, ‘Normal People’ was later adapted into a successful BBC television series starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal. Image via Hulu/Element Pictures
Sally Rooney’s books are still available in UK bookshops, despite her publisher withdrawing new supplies over her support for Palestine Action. The move has reignited debate about the intersection of literature, politics and law in Britain.
On Wednesday, Faber, a leading independent publishing house, confirmed it would stop distributing the Irish novelist’s work in Britain in every format, with her agreement. The decision affects bestsellers, including Normal People, which has sold more than one million copies in the UK, but retailers can continue selling physical stock already on their shelves.
Availability of Rooney’s Books in the UK
Readers can still purchase existing copies of Normal People, Conversations with Friends, Beautiful World, Where Are You and Intermezzo while shops have them in stock. Waterstones confirmed that retailers are permitted to sell their remaining inventory, according to The Guardian. Second-hand bookshops and resellers may also have copies, although availability will vary.
The decision does not require booksellers to remove titles from display or return unsold copies. Once their remaining inventory is gone, they cannot replenish it through the publisher.
New orders through Faber have stopped. Digital editions have also started to be withdrawn from UK platforms, meaning readers seeking ebooks or audiobooks may find fewer options.
Faber clarified that the announcement applies only to the UK market. The publisher said it would continue selling Rooney’s work in other territories, including markets where the same legal restrictions do not apply.
Retired, living in the Scottish Borders after living most of my life in cities in England. I can now indulge my interest in all aspects of living close to nature in a wild landscape. I live on what was once the Iapetus Ocean which took millions of years to travel from the Southern Hemisphere to here in the Northern Hemisphere. That set me thinking and questioning and seeking answers.
In 1998 I co-wrote Millennium Countdown (US)/ A Business Guide to the Year 2000 (UK) see https://www.abebooks.co.uk/products/isbn/9780749427917
