Fifty bookshops across the UK are to open early on 7 September to sell Sally Rooney’s third novel Beautiful World, Where are You? The author now has cult status, following the success of her second novel, Normal People, which was made into a very popular TV series by Hulu and which drew people back to her first novel Conversation with Friends which is currently being adapted for TV.
Bea Carvalho, Waterstones fiction buyer, said: “The release of Sally Rooney’s third novel is the most exciting and eagerly anticipated moment in this year’s literary calendar, and signifies the start of a truly stellar autumn of publishing. Few novelists are as beloved in Waterstones bookshops as Sally Rooney: both Conversations with Friends [Faber] and Normal People [Faber] were Waterstones Books of the Month, and Normal People was our 2018 Book of the Year.
“Our booksellers are determined to launch Beautiful World, Where Are You with enormous impact and buzz to reflect this passion, which is shared by so many of our customers. We are thrilled that 30 shops nationwide will be opening their doors early on publication day: with a head-start for this longed-for novel, and goodie-bags kindly provided by Faber on hand for early-birds, their customers are in for a treat.”
Rooney is now publisher in more than 45 territories, but continues to divide readers. The first handful of reviews on Amazon of Normal People are distinctly negative, yet she is undeniably a bestselling author and an era-defining name.
Sara Talbot, Faber’s sales director, said: “We’ve been bowled over by the early support from booksellers for Beautiful World, Where Are You, and we cannot wait to press a copy of the novel into the hands of Sally’s many fans on 7th September.”
