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US publisher Alfred A. Knopf to release Sonia Gandhi’s memoir
The 544-page memoir traces Gandhi’s journey from post-war Italy to India, family losses and politics.
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Pranavi Sharma - Thu, 20, Aug 2026
- 02:44 EDT
- 25
Book Cover / Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf will publish Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love,’ in hardcover and ebook on Nov. 10, with an audio edition to be published by Penguin Random House. Knopf has announced a first printing of 100,000 copies.
The memoir examines Gandhi’s life from her childhood in post-war Italy to her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi, her experiences with the Gandhi family, devastating family losses and her eventual entry into Indian politics.
“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 issued by publisher Alfred A. Knopf.
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“Writing about my life did not come easily to me,” Gandhi said. “It meant opening myself up, sharing moments and experiences I had always held deep inside.”
The 544-page book begins in Cambridge, England, in 1965, when 19-year-old Sonia Maino fell in love with Rajiv Gandhi. They married three years later, beginning her transition from a small-town childhood in post-war Italy to life in India.
The memoir recounts her introduction to Indira Gandhi and her efforts to learn Hindi, wear saris and embrace Indian cuisine as she adjusted to life in the Gandhi family.
“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. She described the book as “in many ways” a homage to their “humanness”.
The book also details the deaths of Rajiv Gandhi’s younger brother, Sanjay Gandhi, who died in a plane crash, and Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1984. Rajiv Gandhi became prime minister after his mother’s death and was assassinated seven years later while campaigning.
Gandhi said that after withdrawing from the political sphere and reflecting on her life, the “thread of love and loyalty” running through it became clearer.
The memoir chronicles her eventual entry into politics after years of resisting pressure to do so. It covers her rise to become the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress and her decision in 2004 to decline the prime minister’s post after the Congress-led alliance won the election.
Gandhi said her story offers a perspective on the social and political changes she witnessed over six decades in India, which she called “the beautiful country of my belonging”.
Knopf described the memoir as an account of Gandhi’s life, love and family, as well as India’s “tumultuous post-independence history and its present political struggles.” It also addresses the country’s economic and social transformation and questions of identity, duty and home.
Alfred A. Knopf 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.
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