Sonia Gandhi turns author with ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’

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Blending personal memories with political history, veteran Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has unveiled her debut memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, ahead of its worldwide release on November 10, 2026. She marked her Instagram debut by sharing a video introducing the book alongside her daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Published globally by Alfred A Knob and distributed in India by HarperCollins India, the 544-page memoir promises to take readers through nearly six decades of Gandhi’s life, tracing her journey from post-war Italy to the centre of Indian politics.

From Parliament to Pages

Love, duty, loss and the search for belonging form the emotional core of the book. It revisits her meeting with Rajiv Gandhi in Cambridge in 1965, her adjustment to Indian culture, her relationship with the Gandhi family and the devastating assassinations of Indira Gandhi in 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. The memoir also reflects on her entry into public life, her long tenure as Congress president and her decision to decline the post of prime minister in 2004.
However, the memoir’s journey to publication has reportedly been far from smooth. Its original publishing agreement with Penguin Random House India fell through following disagreements over proposed editorial changes and deletions from the manuscript. The book subsequently found a publisher in HarperCollins India.

Sonia Gandhi’s literary journey also brings renewed attention to The Red Sari (El Sari Rojo), a fictionalised biography written by Spanish author Javier Moro and first published in 2008. The book sparked controversy over its dramatised portrayal of Gandhi’s personal life and political journey. Objections to its depiction of private events, along with legal opposition and political protests, complicated its publication in India. The controversy was widely described as a de facto ban rather than a formal government prohibition. The book eventually reached Indian readers in 2015.

With Belonging A Journey of Love, Sonia Gandhi offers her own account of a life shaped by love, tragedy, family ties and public responsibility. The memoir gives readers an opportunity to explore her personal journey alongside the political events that shaped modern India, this time through her own recollections.