Penguin drops Sonia Gandhi’s memoir after she rejected ‘changes, deletions’

With Penguin India out, several Indian publishers are now in the fray and HarperCollins is reported to be close to finalising the agreement to publish and distribute the book in India.

The release, scheduled for November 10, was first announced by US-based Alfred A Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House. Knopf had added that the first print run for the title would be 100,000 copies.

The Indian Express sent questions to Knopf and Gandhi’s agent David Godwin who were not available for comment. Penguin Random House India CEO Gaurav Shrinagesh was asked about the requested “changes/deletions” in Gandhi’s manuscript. He was unavailable for comment.

Sonia Gandhi has previously authored and edited other books but this, according to those who have worked on it, is her most personal and definitive account of her life. Knopf has called it a “riveting memoir by one of the world’s most prominent women leaders that tells a richly engaging story of love, family, and an endlessly fascinating country: India.”

Knopf’s release quoted Sonia Gandhi saying: “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 human failings…My story also offers readers a unique perspective of the social and political changes I have witnessed for six decades.”

Earlier this year, PRHI had issued a statement that it had “not printed” former Army Chief General M M Naravane’s memoirs titled “Four Stars of Destiny” but a hard copy of the title was flashed by Rahul Gandhi in Parliament. Excerpts from the memoirs, including Naravane’s account of the India-China clashes in Galwan and the Agnipath scheme, had been extracted in the media.

In June this year, The Indian Express had first reported how PRHI pulled the plug on acclaimed graphic novelist Joe Sacco’s book on the Muzaffarnagar riots titled ‘The Once and Future Riot.’ Then, CEO Shrinagesh had said that the publisher had raised some “content issues” with the author during the legal scrutiny process which included a map showing inaccurate boundaries of India.

On Friday the company released a statement on Instagram that said: “Any suggestion that Penguin Random House India decided not to publish ‘Belonging’ because the author declined editorial changes does not accurately reflect the circumstances.”

“As a publisher, it is both our prerogative and our responsibility to fact check and provide authors with recommendations that are in the best interests of their books. This is a normal part of the publishing process… Penguin Random House India’s position was that we remained willing and keen to publish the book. We will not comment further on confidential discussions with the author.”