Sonia Gandhi memoir set for India release November 10

Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, is scheduled for publication in India on November 10, with HarperCollins India as publisher. Gandhi describes the book as a personal account of her life and family, rather than a political book, and says she wanted to portray relatives honestly from her own perspective.

In a published account ahead of the release, Gandhi said the memoir follows her journey from a small Italian town to India, which she came to regard as home. She connects her experiences of love, loss and family life with the sense of duty that led her into public life. She said she began writing openly about her life only after stepping back from daily public responsibilities.

The memoir recounts her relationship with Rajiv Gandhi and his family, raising their children, and the deaths of her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, and her husband. It also covers political events, including the Congress-led alliance’s 2004 election victory. Sonia Gandhi declined to become prime minister after that election and led the party and its alliance, which governed India for a decade.

Excerpts shared by HarperCollins India describe Gandhi’s early experiences with Indian food and...