‘Belonging’: Sonia Gandhi memoir set for November 10 release

Memoir of Indian National Congress chief, Sonia Gandhi, will be published on November 10, offering a personal account of her life, publisher Alfred A Knopf announced yesterday.

Titled “Belonging: A Journey of Love”, the memoir will explore he marriage into the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, the assassinations of her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi and husband Rajiv Gandhi, her entry into politics and her years at the head of the Congress.

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“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,” Sonia Gandhi, 79, said in a statement issued through Knopf and shared by the Associated Press.

“In many ways, this book is a homage to their humanness. My story also offers readers a unique perspective of the social and political changes I have witnessed for six decades in the beautiful country of my belonging,” it added.

According to the publisher, the memoir begins with her childhood in post-war Italy and the romance that brought her to India. It describes her introduction to Indira Gandhi, India's first female prime minister, and her life with Rajiv, including learning to speak Hindi, wearing saris and embracing Indian cuisine. Rajiv worked as a commercial airline pilot, and the couple raised their two children in the prime minister's house in Delhi.

“Writing about my life did not come easily to me. It meant opening myself up, sharing moments and experiences I had always held deep inside,” Sonia Gandhi said.

“Yet as I gradually removed myself from the political sphere and looked back at all I had seen, the thread of love and loyalty that wove through my story began to define itself.”

According to the publisher, the book will also offer an intimate account of India's tumultuous post-independence history and its political struggles, alongside the country's economic and social changes over six decades. It will also examine identity, duty and the meaning of home through Sonia Gandhi's personal experiences.

Previously, Sonia Gandhi published a pictorial biography of Rajiv Gandhi and a book of his photographs. She also edited two volumes of private correspondence between Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.