HarperCollins India to publish Sonia Gandhi memoir ‘Belonging’ on November 10
HarperCollins India will publish Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love in India on November 10, ending uncertainty over the book’s domestic release following an “impasse” between the author’s representatives and Penguin Random House India.
HarperCollins India announced the decision on Friday, describing Belonging as “one of the most anticipated political memoirs of our time”.
The publisher said the memoir is a personal account of love, identity, duty and belonging and offers an insider’s view of India’s political journey.
The announcement comes after Penguin Random House India (PRHI), which had initially acquired the memoir, decided not to publish it in India following a dispute over editorial changes to the manuscript.
The controversy had triggered a political debate, with several Congress leaders alleging that governmental pressure was behind the publisher’s decision. Some had claimed that Penguin India was being pressured to remove sections relating to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the RSS and China’s occupation of Indian territory during the Modi government.
PRHI had last week told PTI that it was “really keen” to publish the book and described the acquisition as “hard-won”. However, it said the publisher and the author’s representatives ultimately reached a stalemate over “a particular issue”.
The publishing house denied any external pressure and said it could not disclose details of the dispute because of confidentiality obligations and its agreement with the author.
“With HarperCollins India now set to publish the memoir domestically, the book will be available in India alongside its international release on November 10 by Alfred A Knopf, an imprint of Penguin Random House,” the publisher said.
Belonging begins with Sonia Gandhi’s childhood in post-war Veneto, Italy, and traces her move to Cambridge, where she met Rajiv Gandhi in 1965.
The memoir recounts her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi and her introduction to his mother, former prime minister Indira Gandhi. It also describes her adjustment to life in India, including learning Hindi, wearing saris and adapting to Indian food and culture.
The book covers the major tragedies that shaped the Gandhi family, including the death of Sanjay Gandhi in a plane crash, Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991.
It also examines the political events surrounding the Congress-led alliance’s victory in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, when Sonia Gandhi declined the prime minister’s post and instead led the Congress and its alliance, which governed the country for the next decade.
