Sonia Gandhi memoir ‘Belonging’ gets new India publisher after Penguin deal row

Sonia Gandhi’s long-awaited memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, has found a new Indian publisher. HarperCollins India announced on Friday that it will publish the Congress leader’s book in India on November 10, 2026, following the collapse of an earlier arrangement with Penguin Random House India.

The memoir, described as a deeply personal account of Gandhi’s life, family and political journey, is expected to be among the most closely watched books of the year. It will be published internationally by Alfred A. Knopf, the US imprint of Penguin Random House, while HarperCollins India will now handle its Indian edition.

A personal story with political weight

Titled Belonging: A Journey of Love, the book is expected to chronicle Gandhi’s extraordinary journey from her childhood in Italy to becoming one of the most consequential figures in modern Indian politics.

The memoir is expected to include her reflections on joining the Nehru-Gandhi family after marrying Rajiv Gandhi, living through two devastating political assassinations, stepping away from public life and eventually taking charge of the Congress party.

The book is also expected to revisit key moments from Gandhi’s decades in public life, including the Congress-led UPA government’s decade in power from 2004 to 2014 and her perspective on India’s political changes in recent years.

For a politician who has generally guarded her private life closely, a first-person account of this scale is likely to draw attention far beyond political circles.

Why Penguin did not publish it

The switch to HarperCollins comes after Penguin Random House India, or PRHI, decided not to go ahead with the Indian publication of the memoir.

Reports suggested that PRHI’s editorial and legal teams had sought changes and deletions in parts of the manuscript. The areas reportedly discussed included references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure as well as the India-China border situation, amongst other related topics.

Gandhi’s representatives reportedly did not agree to the proposed changes, particularly amidst concerns that the Indian edition could differ substantially from the version being released internationally.

PRHI, however, has denied those claims. “Penguin Random House India is not the publisher of ‘Belonging’ in India. Any suggestion that Penguin Random House India decided not to publish ‘Belonging’ because the author declined editorial changes does not accurately reflect the circumstances,” the publisher had said in its statement.

HarperCollins steps in

HarperCollins India has now stepped in to publish and distribute the book in the country, retaining the original November 10 release date.

In its announcement, the publisher called Belonging a “dramatic and deeply personal story of love, identity, duty and belonging”, promising readers a closer look at a woman whose life has remained inseparable from some of India’s biggest political turning points.

While a detailed synopsis, the final cover and excerpts from the book are yet to be released, the memoir is expected to offer Gandhi’s most extensive account yet of her family life and political career.

The ongoing discourse around the memoir has also led to conjectures on whether readers in India and abroad will encounter the same version of a major political memoir. For now, the answer may only become clear when Belonging: A Journey of Love arrives in bookstores on November 10.