The Incredible Events in Women's Cell Number 3 is the debut novel of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's Press Secretary, Kira Yarmysh, that focuses on a woman's ten-day imprisonment in a cell with five other woman that quickly tilts into threatening surrealism while also exploring what it means to be a woman in Russia today.Alexei Navalny is an anti-corruption activist and one of the most prominent Russian opposition leaders. He was the subject of a major documentary, Navalny, released in early 2022 which recounts his life since the assassination attempt on his life by poisoning in August 2020. It has already won several major awards, including the Audience Award at Sundance, among many other nominations, and is available to watch on HBO Max. Navalny also gave an exclusive interview and was featured on the cover of TIME Magazine in early 2022. He has given his full-hearted support to Yarmysh for her writing career and has praised her novel for its faithful depiction of political incarceration in Russia. Yarmysh is also featured in the documentary. Yarmysh's novel is informed by her own work in activism and politics. Yarmysh herself has been arrested and imprisoned several times for speaking out against Putin. She is currently living abroad in exile and can no longer return to Russia.Yarmysh is a major voice on human rights in Russia, and we expect significant interest for interviews and profiles. She is fluent in English, and we expect serious review coverage for this international superstar in the making. We also already submitted the novel for the Indies Introduce program.The novel was published in October 2020 in Russia, where it was very well received by readers and reviewers alike. However, the novel was earmarked by the publisher for readers ?18+? and the copyright page labeled it as containing ?uncensored/foul language.? Yarmysh was going to be featured at the ?non/fiction? Moscow Book Fair, but her event was rescheduled and later canceled at the last minute.The Incredible Events in Women's Cell Number 3 is a thrilling and accessible novel that spotlights the experience of queer women within a restrictive state. It will appeal to readers of political fiction told with a literary edge, such as A Burning by Megha Majumdar, and its more surreal aspects will speak to readers of speculative fiction, including fans of N.K. Jemisin.Rights have been sold in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Norway so far. The hardcover printing in Norway sold out in just a few months, and the publications in Germany and Norway have both spurred major profiles of Yarmysh, in addition to other significant review coverage.Yarmysh has been influenced by Russia's rich tradition of prison writing, including works by Chekhov, Dostoevsky, and Solzhenitsyn. Yarmysh's novel brings the genre into the modern era?spotlighting issues of gender, sexuality, and race in particular?as she focuses on the contemporary restrictions placed on the Russian people by Putin's ultra-authoritarian regime.Yarmysh is active on Twitter in both Russian and English and has over 250, 000 followers: @Kira_Yarmysh. Her Instagram account has over 98, 000 followers: @kira_yarmysh. We will approach writers including Masha Gessen, Julia Phillips, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and others for blurbs.