New Delhi: Penguin Random House India has reportedly pulled out of publishing Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, Belonging:
A Journey of Love , in India. The decision followed a disagreement over “editorial changes and deletions” sought by the publisher in a section of the manuscript, The Indian Express reported. Sonia Gandhi reportedly refused to accept the proposed changes.
The memoir remains scheduled for an international release on November 10 through Alfred A Knopf, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Knopf had announced an initial print run of one lakh copies. Several publishing houses have reportedly shown interest in acquiring the Indian rights after Penguin India’s withdrawal. HarperCollins is said to be close to finalising an agreement to publish and distribute the memoir in the country.
A deeply personal account
Belonging: A Journey of Love will trace Sonia Gandhi’s life from her childhood in post-war Italy to her arrival in India and marriage to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
The memoir is expected to recount the deaths of Sanjay Gandhi, former prime minister Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. It will also cover Sonia Gandhi’s entry into public life and her years at the centre of one of India’s most influential political families. The book is also likely to address her decision not to become prime minister after the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won power in the 2004 Lok Sabha election.
“Much has been written about my family, but few narratives were able to reach into the truth of their motivations, their actions and even their human failings…My story also offers readers a unique perspective of the social and political changes I have witnessed for six decades,” Sonia Gandhi said in the publisher’s announcement.
She also acknowledged that writing the memoir required her to step beyond the privacy she had protected for decades.
Rahul praises Sonia
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi recently spoke about the memoir while paying tribute to his father, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, on his 82nd birth anniversary.
“Since the day Papa left, I have watched you face everything life threw at you with never-ending courage and dignity. Only Priyanka and I really know what you have been through, and how difficult your life after Papa truly was,” he wrote on X.
“I know how hard it was for someone as private as you to tell the world your beautiful story,” Rahul Gandhi added.
Earlier publishing dispute
Penguin India had faced another controversy earlier this year over former Army chief General M M Naravane’s memoir, Four Stars of Destiny.
The publisher said it had “not printed” the book after Rahul Gandhi displayed a copy in Parliament. Media reports had previously published excerpts related to the Galwan clashes and the Agnipath military recruitment scheme.
