Indira-Rajiv assassinations to 2004 PM decision: Sonia Gandhi to recount life in memoir

The memoir will revisit family tragedy, political duty and six decades of change in India.

In Short

• The memoir recounts her move from Italy to India's foremost political family
• Gandhi says the book explores her family's motives, flaws and humanity
• She describes 1984 as the turning point after Indira Gandhi's assassination

Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, will be published on November 10, publisher Alfred A Knopf announced on Tuesday.

The book traces Gandhi’s journey from her childhood in Italy to her marriage into the Nehru-Gandhi family, the personal tragedies that shaped her life and her eventual entry into 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 by the publisher.

Describing the memoir as a tribute to her family’s humanity, Gandhi said it would also offer her perspective on the social and political changes she had witnessed in India over six decades.

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

Gandhi, 79, was born in Italy and was studying in Cambridge, England, when she met Rajiv Gandhi, then a fellow student. Rajiv was the grandson of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and the son of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

The memoir recounts how Gandhi’s life changed after Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi became prime minister. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated seven years later.

“It was heartbreak and loss that threw me into the public world of politics. Up till then, I had guarded my privacy fiercely,” Gandhi said.

She subsequently joined active politics and became the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress. She later declined the party’s offer to become prime minister.

Gandhi said writing about her personal life had been difficult because it required her to revisit and share experiences she had long kept private.

“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,” she said.

Gandhi said that as she gradually stepped away from active politics and reflected on her life, a recurring theme of love and loyalty began to emerge.

She said that thread extended from her childhood in a small Italian town to the complexities of her life in India as Rajiv Gandhi’s wife and Indira Gandhi’s daughter-in-law.

The Nehru-Gandhi family remains active in politics. Sonia Gandhi’s children, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, are Congress members of the Lok Sabha.

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