NEW YORK, Aug 19: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has opened up about her personal journey and entry into politics in her upcoming 544-page memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, saying that writing about her life required her to revisit experiences she had kept deeply private.
The memoir, to be published by Alfred A Knopf on November 10, will be released in hardcover and ebook editions, with an audio version to be brought out by Penguin Random House. The publisher has announced an initial print run of 100,000 copies.
"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 in a statement released by Knopf.
She said writing the memoir "did not come easily" as it involved opening up and sharing personal experiences that she had long kept to herself.
Gandhi described the book as a testament to the emotional journey of her life, marked by moments of happiness as well as grief and despair.
"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, describing the memoir as, in many ways, a tribute to their humanity.
The book traces Gandhi's life from her childhood in post-war Italy to her years in India after marrying Rajiv Gandhi and becoming the daughter-in-law of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
The memoir begins in Cambridge, England, in 1965, where Sonia Maino, then a 19-year-old student, met Rajiv Gandhi. It recounts her transition to life in India, including her efforts to learn Hindi, adapt to Indian traditions and embrace the country's culture and cuisine.
It also details the tragedies that shaped the Gandhi family. Rajiv Gandhi's younger brother Sanjay Gandhi died in a plane crash, while Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984. Following his mother's death, Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister and was later assassinated in 1991 while campaigning.
The memoir also covers Sonia Gandhi's eventual entry into politics after years of resisting calls to take an active political role. It recounts her decision in 2004 to decline the post of prime minister after the Congress-led alliance emerged victorious in the general election.
Looking back on her life, Gandhi said the thread of "love and loyalty" became more apparent as she gradually stepped away from the political sphere and reflected on the experiences that had shaped her.
She said the book also provides a personal perspective on more than six decades of India's social and political transformation, describing the country as "the beautiful country of my belonging."
Knopf has described Belonging: A Journey of Love as an intimate account of Gandhi's life, family and relationship with India, while also offering a perspective on the country's post-Independence history and contemporary political challenges.
The publisher said the memoir explores themes including identity, duty and the meaning of home, alongside India's economic and social changes over the past six decades.
Knopf Executive Vice President, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jordan Pavlin said the publishing house was honoured to bring out the memoir, calling it an account of Gandhi's life, resilience, family and history.
