Description
Book SynopsisWinner of a PEN Translates Award Named a Most Anticipated Book by Literary Hub When Anya is arrested at a Moscow anti-corruption rally under false pretences, she is given a 10-day sentence at a detention centre. Her cellmates are five other ordinary women arrested on petty charges. Ten listless days stretch before Anya and, as she appeals her sentence and recalls her progress from apolitical youth to informed citizen, she is troubled by strange, dreamlike visions, and wonders if her cellmates might somehow not be as ordinary as they seem. A brilliant exploration of what it means to be marginalized both as an independent woman and in an increasingly intolerant Russia in particular, The Incredible Events in Women's Cell Number Three introduces one of the most urgent and gripping new voices in international literature.
Trade ReviewAn intimate look at political imprisonment -- Dwight Garner * the New York Times *
Superb. I am happy that my past is being recognized: I myself sat in the cell next door (albeit at a different time), and I can confirm that all the characters are very realistic -- Alexey Navalny
As timely as Maxim Gorky's Hours Spent in Prison, but a much livelier read! -- Boris Akunin
Brilliantly camouflaged by the grubby banality of casual conversation and detention routines, Ms. Yarmysh creates a cumulative portrait of ingrained social evils and violent retribution ... As unpredictable as it is damning. -- Sam Sacks * Wall Street Journal *
Yarmysh's debut is gripping. In using her own experiences she reveals not only the intolerance of the Russian state, but also the resilience of those subjected to its injustices -- Christiana Bishop * New Statesman *
The whole world through a single cell: frightening and funny, absurd and all too real -- Julia Phillips, author of Disappearing Earth
Catch-22 exchanges on the impossibility of fairness for women in Russian society ... the dialogue-heavy narrative keeps the pages turning. -- John Self * Guardian *
A first novel that skillfully breaks the claustrophobia of life in a jail cell by cataloging Anya's life before her imprisonment . . . The familiar trials and tribulations that everyday Russians face stand out in dramatic effect as Yarmysh illuminates the subtly veiled political dissent within an oppressive society straining at the seams. * Booklist *
