Sonia Gandhi's memoir Belonging to be published on November 10

Sonia Gandhi's memoir Belonging will be published on November 10. The book connects personal tragedy, political change and her search for identity, duty and home.

In Short

• The 544-page book spans post-war Italy, Cambridge and decades in India
• Gandhi says heartbreak and loss pushed her from privacy into politics
• She recounts learning Hindi, wearing saris and adapting to Indian life

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's 544-page memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, will be published on November 10, with Gandhi saying that writing about her life meant opening herself up and revisiting experiences she had kept buried for years. The book will be released in hardcover and ebook by Alfred A Knopf, while Penguin Random House will publish the audio edition.

In a statement issued by Knopf on Tuesday, Gandhi reflected on the personal losses that shaped her public life. "It was heartbreak and loss that threw me into the public world of politics. Up till then I had guarded my privacy fiercely," she said. "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."

Gandhi said she wanted the book to be a "testament of my heart's journey through the tender joys and dark despair" that marked her life. "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," she said, adding that the book was "in many ways" a homage to their "humanness".

The memoir traces her journey from childhood in post-war Italy to her life in India after marrying Rajiv Gandhi and becoming the daughter-in-law of then prime minister Indira Gandhi. Gandhi said that as she gradually removed herself from politics and looked back at what she had witnessed, the "thread of love and loyalty" running through her life became clearer. She described that journey as a movement from "the simplicity of my childhood in small-town Italy" to the complexity of her years in India.

The book begins in Cambridge, England, in 1965, where Sonia Maino, then a 19-year-old student, falls in love at first sight with Rajiv Gandhi, whom she later married. It recounts her introduction to Indira Gandhi, her efforts to learn Hindi, wear saris and enjoy Indian cuisine, along with the tragedies that struck the Gandhi family. Sanjay Gandhi died in a plane crash, Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984, and Rajiv Gandhi, who became prime minister after his mother's death, was assassinated seven years later while campaigning.

The memoir also covers Sonia Gandhi's eventual entry into politics after years of resisting pressure to do so, and her decision in 2004 to decline the prime minister's post after the Congress-led alliance won the election. Gandhi said her story also gives readers a unique perspective on the social and political changes she witnessed over six decades in India, which she described as "the beautiful country of my belonging".

Knopf described Belonging as an intimate account of Gandhi's life and a story of love, family and India, offering a perspective on the country's "tumultuous post-independence history and its present political struggles". The publisher said the memoir also offers an insider's view of India's economic and social changes over six decades, while Gandhi reflects on identity, duty and the meaning of home. Knopf said a first printing of 100,000 copies has been set, and executive vice president, publisher and editor-in-chief Jordan Pavlin said the publishing house was "honoured" to publish the memoir, describing it as an account of Gandhi's life, resilience, family and history.

The book, due in November, brings together Sonia Gandhi's personal memories, family tragedies and political journey, while tracing how love, loss and loyalty shaped her life in Italy and India.

With PTI Inputs

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