New Delhi: Penguin Random House India on Friday rejected reports suggesting that it decided against publishing Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s upcoming memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, because she declined editorial changes proposed by the publishing house.
Breaking its silence on the speculation surrounding the book’s India publication, Penguin confirmed that it is not the Indian publisher of Belonging but maintained that it had remained interested in publishing the memoir throughout its discussions with the author.
“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 said in a statement.
Penguin Says It Was ‘Willing And Keen’ To Publish Sonia Gandhi’s Memoir
While Penguin did not disclose details of its discussions with Gandhi, it acknowledged that fact-checking and editorial recommendations form a routine part of the publishing process.
“As a publisher, it is both our prerogative and our responsibility to fact check and provide authors with recommendations that are in the best interests of their books. This is a normal part of the publishing process,” it said.
The publisher stressed that its position during the discussions was that it remained “willing and keen” to publish the memoir.
Penguin declined to elaborate further, saying it would not comment on confidential discussions with the author.
The clarification follows reports suggesting that editorial differences had resulted in Penguin deciding not to bring out the memoir in India.
Who Will Publish ‘Belonging’ In India?
With Penguin Random House India confirming it will not publish the book in the country, attention has now turned to which publishing house will acquire its Indian rights.
Several publishers are reportedly interested, with HarperCollins understood to be among those in contention. However, an Indian publishing deal has not been officially announced.
Internationally, Belonging: A Journey of Love is scheduled to be released on November 10, 2026, through Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
What Is Sonia Gandhi’s ‘Belonging’ About?
The memoir will offer Sonia Gandhi’s first-person account of a life that took her from her childhood in Italy to the Nehru-Gandhi family and eventually to the highest levels of Indian politics.
“Much has been written about my family, but few narratives were able to reach into the truth of their motivations, their actions and even their very human failings,” Gandhi said in a statement released through Knopf.
The book will also revisit two events that dramatically altered the course of her life — the assassination of her mother-in-law and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984 and the assassination of her husband, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, in 1991.
Gandhi has said that “heartbreak and loss” eventually pushed her into the public world of politics after years of fiercely protecting her privacy.
She went on to become the longest-serving president of the Congress. Following the Congress-led alliance’s victory in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi declined to become Prime Minister.
