INDIA

Penguin drops Sonia Gandhi’s memoir after she rejected ‘changes, deletions’
New Delhi (TIP): PENGUIN Random House India (PRHI), expected to publish ‘Belonging: a Journey of Love,’ the much-anticipated memoirs of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, in India, will not do so, The Indian Express has learnt.
Sources said this was precipitated by certain “editorial changes and deletions” that Penguin Random House India wanted in “a part of the manuscript” which was turned down by the author.
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.” Source: Indian Express.