Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love. (Source: AP/Enhanced using AI)
A week after The Indian Express reported that the deal between Penguin Random House India and senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi to publish her memoir had fallen through, HarperCollins India has announced it will publish the book, titled Belonging: A Journey of Love by Sonia Gandhi.
The tell-all by the country’s tallest Opposition leader ran into a conflict with a publisher who sought edits to sections including those on the Prime Minister.
The memoir, the publisher said in a post on X, will be published in India on 10 November 2026. “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,” the post added.
The Indian Express was the first to report that Penguin Random House India would not proceed with the memoir’s publication after Sonia Gandhi turned down some “editorial changes and deletions” suggested by the publisher.
The Express report had also mentioned that HarperCollins was close to finalising the agreement to publish and distribute the book in India. It is understood that several Indian publishers were in touch with the book’s agent, David Godwin, but were informed that the “deal” had been finalised with HarperCollins over two weeks ago.
Earlier, US-based Alfred A Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House, announced the book’s release scheduled for November 10. Knopf had said the first print run for the title would be 100,000 copies.
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The publishing deal between Penguin Random House India and Sonia Gandhi fell through after a “back-and-forth” lasting at least two months.
Sources had earlier told The Indian Express that these deliberations were “cordial” at the outset but got “rough” towards the end. Among the passages that were objected to were: references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his 12-year rule; the role of the RSS; references to instances of communal divide and riots, and the plight of minorities.
Sonia Gandhi was represented by the wife of one of Rajiv Gandhi’s aides and a family friend. PRHI had a team of at least three editors, including consultants.
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Sources said that the author’s side pushed back with two key arguments. One, that the Penguin Random House India lawyers were being “over-sensitive.” And, two, that the “numerous” edits and deletions, as suggested by them — including mention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi or contemporary developments like the Indo-China stand-off in Galwan as well as mentions of communal strife and status of minorities – would lead to an awkward situation of two versions of the book, the global edition at variance with the Indian edition.
“Readers in India would have to compare the text of the title published globally to the one printed in India to know what all had been changed or censored,” said a source involved with the process.