New Delhi: HarperCollins India Friday said it will publish Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s memoir “Belonging: A Journey of Love” in India November 10, ending the uncertainty over the book’s domestic publication following an “impasse” between the author’s representatives and Penguin Random House India.
“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 Penguin Random House India (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 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.
In an exclusive statement to PTI last week, PRHI clarified that they were “really keen” to publish the book, describing it as a “hard-won acquisition”, but ultimately decided to step away due to a stalemate over “a particular issue”.
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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.
“On some, they agreed to changes and on others, we accepted the author’s position. Unfortunately, and ultimately, an understanding could not be reached on a particular issue,” said PRHI, which is the Indian subsidiary/operating company of Penguin Random House (PRH), the global publishing group.
With HarperCollins India now set to publish the memoir domestically, the book will be available in India alongside its international release November 10 by Alfred A Knopf, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
“Belonging” begins with Gandhi’s childhood in post-war Veneto, Italy, and traces her journey to Cambridge, where in 1965 she met Rajiv Gandhi, grandson of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
The memoir recounts her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi and her introduction to her mother-in-law, former prime minister Indira Gandhi, as well as her efforts to adjust to life in India, including learning Hindi, wearing saris and adapting to Indian food and culture.
It covers the major tragedies that transformed 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.
The memoir also delves into political events surrounding the Congress-led alliance’s victory after the 2004 election, when Sonia Gandhi declined to become prime minister and instead led the party and its alliance, which governed India for a decade.