Sonia Gandhi memoir Belonging to be published on November 10

Sonia Gandhi's memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love will be published on November 10. The book revisits 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. In the book, Gandhi reflects on marrying into India's Nehru-Gandhi political family, the personal tragedies she faced, and her own journey in public life.

In a statement issued through Knopf, Gandhi said, "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. In many ways, this book is a homage to their humanness. My story also offers readers a unique perspective of the social and political changes I have witnessed for six decades in the beautiful country of my belonging."

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

In Belonging, Gandhi writes about how her life changed after Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi became prime minister. Seven years later, Rajiv Gandhi was also assassinated. Gandhi later entered politics, went on to become the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress, and declined her party's offer to become prime minister. The Congress lost power to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party in 2014.

Speaking about her entry into politics, Gandhi said, "It was heartbreak and loss that threw me into the public world of politics. Up till then I had guarded my privacy fiercely." She added, "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 also said, "Yet as I gradually removed myself from the political sphere and looked back at all I had seen, the thread of love and loyalty that wove through my story began to define itself, from the simplicity of my childhood in small-town Italy, to the complexity of my years in India as the wife of Rajiv Gandhi and the daughter-in-law of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi." The Nehru-Gandhi family remains active in politics, with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Sonia Gandhi's children, serving as members of the Lok Sabha from the Congress party.

With PTI Inputs

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