Serpent’s Tail secures debut novel by Navalny’s spokeswoman 

Serpent’s Tail has acquired The Incredible Events in Women’s Cell Number 3, a "vitally important" debut novel by Kira Yarmysh, the 33-year-old spokeswoman for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Commissioning editor Leonora Craig Cohen acquired UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada from Susanna Lea at Susanna Lea Associates. Rights for the novel have been snapped up in 10 languages (including Russian and English deals).The book will be published in hardback and e-book in June 2023, translated by Arch Tait, with Grove Atlantic publishing in the US in February.

"When Anya is arrested at a Moscow anti-corruption rally under false pretences, she is sentenced to a 10-day stretch at a special detention centre," the synopsis reads. "Her cellmates are five other ordinary women all arrested on petty charges. The women come from all strata of Russian society and get to know each other as they talk over plastic cups of lukewarm tea.

"Ten listless days stretch before Anya, and as she appeals her sentence, she recalls the disappointing love triangle in which she was once enmeshed and her progress from apolitical youth to informed, outraged citizen. Soon, Anya is troubled by strange, dreamlike visions, and wonders if her cellmates might somehow not be as ordinary as they seem."

In connection with her work for Navalny, Yarmyrsh spent 50 days in prison, an experience which loosely informed the novel. She was detained under house arrest in Moscow in 2021 and later left Russia after her trial and sentencing. She is now living in exile in Europe.

"I wanted to show Russia as a modern young woman sees it, as I know it," she said. "And I chose the location for a reason – the political reality of my country is such that more and more people find themselves in prison. In a cell you can meet anyone from an Instagram model to a professor, so the cell itself becomes a small model of a huge country."

Craig Cohen commented: "The Incredible Events in Women’s Cell Number 3 is a vitally important exploration of what it means to be marginalised as an independent woman in general and in an increasingly intolerant Russia in particular. Kira has one of the most urgent new voices in international literature. Anya and her cellmates are unforgettable companions and I can’t wait for the world to meet them."