New Delhi: After Penguin Random House India called quits on Sonia Gandhi’s memoir Belonging, its rival, HarperCollins India, has swooped in to the rescue. Now, slated to be published by HCI, the memoir will be released on 10 November.
The announcement was shared by the publishers as well as HCI CEO Ananth Padmanabhan across social media platforms on 4 September, barely a week after Penguin’s announcement.
“One of the most anticipated political memoirs of our time, Belonging is a dramatic and deeply personal story of love, identity, duty and belonging, and offers a rare insider’s view of India’s journey,” read HarperCollins’ description of the book.
It is further referred to as a “surprising, rich” memoir that seamlessly weaves the personal with the political to tell a riveting story: of love, of family, and of an endlessly fascinating country, India. Belonging chronicles Sonia Gandhi’s time at Cambridge with Rajiv Gandhi, her journey to India and her eventual foray into politics.
“At HarperCollins, we have a long history of publishing books by and about some of the most influential figures in political and public life, including Ratan Tata, Margaret Thatcher, David Cameron, Colin Powell, Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, Barack Obama and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Belonging: A Journey of Love continues that tradition,” a spokesperson for HarperCollins India told ThePrint.
Penguin India refused to publish the book in the country after “the author did not comply with editorial decisions.”
“As a publisher, it is our prerogative and our responsibility to fact-check and provide authors with recommendations that are in the best interest of their books,” read a statement by the publishing house, adding that this is a normal part of the publishing process.
However, Gandhi’s memoir will still be published by Penguin Random House internationally.
Penguin’s announcement garnered significant media attention and criticism across social media platforms, with many likening it to an earlier controversy between the publisher and graphic novelist Joe Sacco.
One X user, citing Penguin’s behaviour toward Sacco and Gandhi’s books, said, “A pattern is not a coincidence.”
Coming to the rescue, HarperCollins, however, has been dubbed “the publisher with a spine.”
“Thank you, HarperCollins. You guys have spine… it is going to be a bestseller,” read one X post.