HarperCollins announces Nov release for Sonia Gandhi’s memoir
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Photo: AP
A week after Sonia Gandhi’s proposed memoir deal with Penguin Random House India collapsed amid reported differences over editorial changes, HarperCollins India has announced that it will publish the long-awaited book on November 10, 2026.
Titled Belonging: A Journey of Love, the memoir is being described by HarperCollins India as one of the most anticipated political memoirs of the time.
In an Instagram announcement, the publisher said the book would offer a deeply personal account of love, identity, duty and belonging, while providing an insider’s perspective on India’s political journey, Siasat Daily reported.
The announcement comes days after Penguin Random House India clarified that it would not be publishing the memoir in India. In a statement issued on August 28, the publisher said reports suggesting that it had withdrawn from the project because Gandhi refused proposed editorial changes did not accurately represent the circumstances.
Penguin said publishers have both the right and responsibility to fact-check manuscripts and make recommendations in the interests of the book, describing this as a routine part of the publishing process.
It maintained that it had remained willing to publish the memoir throughout the discussions, but declined to comment further, citing the confidential nature of its discussions with the author.
The development followed reports that Penguin Random House India had sought specific editorial changes and deletions in a section of the manuscript, which Gandhi was said to have rejected.
The Indian Express, citing sources, reported that Gandhi had opposed requests to alter or remove references concerning Chinese incursions along India’s borders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
According to a Hindustan Times report, Gandhi maintained that the memoir was her own account of her life and that she would not agree to any changes that distorted her narrative.
The newspaper, citing one of her aides, also reported that Penguin India had sought the removal of certain passages, including Gandhi’s observations about and recollections of her meetings with Modi.
Among the sections reportedly under scrutiny were Gandhi’s detailed recollections of remarks made about her by Modi and an incident during a 2004 public rally in Gujarat, where she was referred to as a “Jersey cow”.