Penguin India drops plans to publish Sonia Gandhi memoir after editorial dispute

New Delhi: Penguin Random House India (PRHI) has reportedly withdrawn from publishing the Indian edition of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love in India, following differences over proposed edits to the manuscript.

The publisher had been expected to bring out the book in India. However, sources said PRHI sought certain editorial changes and deletions in a section of the manuscript, which Gandhi did not accept. The publishing house has not publicly detailed the proposed revisions or the reasons behind them.

With PRHI no longer in contention, other publishers are understood to be exploring the opportunity to acquire Indian publishing and distribution rights. HarperCollins is reportedly close to finalising an agreement, though neither the company nor Gandhi’s representatives have announced a final deal.

The development concerns only the India edition of the book and is not expected to affect its international release. Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Penguin Random House in the United States, has scheduled the memoir for publication on November 10, 2026, with an initial print run of 100,000 copies.

The memoir is expected to offer Sonia Gandhi’s personal account of a life spanning post-war Italy, her arrival in India, her marriage to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and her decades within the Nehru-Gandhi family.

It is also likely to recount the losses that shaped her life, including the deaths of Sanjay Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and her eventual decision to enter public life. Among the key political moments expected to feature in the book is her decision to decline the prime ministership after the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won the 2004 Lok Sabha election.

Announcing the book, Gandhi said much had been written about her family but that few accounts had captured “the truth of their motivations, their actions and even their human failings”. She said the memoir would also reflect her perspective on the social and political transformations she had witnessed in India over six decades. Knopf described the work as a personal narrative centred on love, family and India.

Rahul Gandhi has also spoken about the forthcoming book, recalling the difficult years that followed Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991. Referring to his mother as “Mama”, he said he had watched her face every challenge with “never-ending courage and dignity” and expressed pride in her decision to share a life she had largely kept private.

The reported exit of PRHI comes after two other publishing controversies involving the company this year.

PRHI had earlier said it had “not printed” former Army chief General M.M. Naravane’s memoir, Four Stars of Destiny, despite a copy of the book being displayed by Rahul Gandhi in Parliament. Media reports had published extracts from the manuscript related to the Galwan clashes and the Agnipath recruitment scheme.

In June, the publisher also withdrew graphic novelist Joe Sacco’s The Once and Future Riot, a work based on the Muzaffarnagar riots. PRHI CEO Gaurav Shrinagesh had said the company raised content-related concerns during legal review, including objections to a map that allegedly showed India’s boundaries inaccurately.