Harper Collins to publish Sonia Gandhi’s memoir ‘Belonging’

HarperCollins India on Friday, 4 September said it will publish Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love in India on 10 November, ending the uncertainty over the book's domestic publication following an "impasse" between the author's representatives and Penguin Random House India (PRHI).

'One of the most anticipated political memoirs of our time, Belonging is a dramatic and deeply personal story of love, identity, duty and belonging, and offers a rare insider's view of India’s journey,' HarperCollins India said in a statement.

HarperCollins India's announcement follows a controversy involving PRHI, which was initially keen to publish the memoir but subsequently said it would not be the Indian publisher. The controversy began amid reports of alleged differences between the publisher and the author's representatives over editorial changes to the manuscript.

Several Congress leaders raised issues of governmental pressure and freedom of expression with some alleging that there was pressure on Penguin India to remove sections relating to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the RSS and China's occupation of Indian territory during the Modi regime.

However, while maintaining there was 'no external pressure whatsoever', PRHI declined to disclose the exact nature of the impasse, citing confidentiality clauses and their 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 10 November by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

The long-awaited book will recount Gandhi’s journey from her childhood in post-war Italy to her life in India, weaving her personal experiences with some of the defining political events in the country’s recent history.

Beginning in Cambridge in 1965, the memoir revisits the first meeting between Sonia Maino, then a 19-year-old student, and Rajiv Gandhi. It also recounts her marriage to Rajiv, her relationship with Indira Gandhi, efforts to learn Hindi, wear saris and become familiar with Indian food, traditions and everyday life.

A central part of the narrative will be Sonia Gandhi’s account of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in Tamil Nadu by a suicide bomber during an election campaign in 1991. The book is expected to offer a deeply personal portrayal of the loss and its effect on her family and future.

With PTI inputs