Political Girl, Maria Alyokhina
Political Girl, Maria Alyokhina
List: $28.00 | Sale: $19.60
Club: $14.00

Political Girl
Life and Fate in Russia

Author: Maria Alyokhina

Narrator: Sasha Alexis

Unabridged: 14 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/09/2025


Synopsis

From a member of the Pussy Riot collective: An urgent, intimate, firsthand account of grassroots dissent, bravery, art, and spectacle in Putin's Russia

Picking up where Riot Days left off, Maria (Masha) Alyokhina takes us through her activist experiences between 2014 to 2022. In vivid, diary-like vignettes, we follow her as she goes in and out of Russian prisons, continually dodges police violence, protests at the Sochi Olympics, flies to Kyiv to stand in solidarity with Ukraine, defends the high-level dissident Alexi Navalny, drops banners at Trump Tower, and—in 2022—flees from Russia in disguise to escape a new prison sentence.

Spanning settings from Moscow to London to New York to Harvard, Political Girl has an artistic sensibility, a punk ethos, a deep moral clarity, and an inimitably dry Russian wit. It portrays not only Masha’s political activities but also her personal arc: the friends she makes in prison, the woman she falls in love with, her bond with her young son Filip, and her deep passion for art and history. As Trump attempts to bring Putin-style authoritarianism to the U.S., Masha's message to Americans is one of solidarity and hope.

About The Author

Maria (Masha) Alyokhina is a political activist, artist and member of the Pussy Riot collective. She is a recipient of the Lennon Ono Grant for Peace and has also been awarded the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Emily on November 07, 2025

The book is an interesting and important read to understand how politics has shifted in Russia following Putin’s rule. It shows how Putin has shaped the world we live in outside of Russia and the rise of right wing nationalism in the west. I found the story slow and the writing difficult to read in......more

Goodreads review by Haley on November 20, 2025

Absolutely devoured it. An important history for so many reasons - because people living under dictatorship in Russia matter, because Ukrainians fighting for their lives and homeland matter, because Trump loves Putin and Americans need to understand the playbook of dictators, etc., plus so well writ......more

Goodreads review by Cheryl on October 14, 2025

Although I got bogged down by the unfamiliar politics, I was deeply moved by this book by Pussy Riot's Maria Alyokhina. Imagine loving your country so much that you would endure countless house arrests and imprisonments to speak up for its people; that's Maria (Masha). The relentlessness of the stat......more

Goodreads review by Helen on October 02, 2025

An unsettling and honest book. We think we know what is happening in Russia but this book tells the truth. Standing up at great personal cost, surveillance and detention in horrific conditions are the norm for asking for what we would call our human rights. The propaganda and totalitarian regime and i......more

Goodreads review by Alison on October 21, 2025

A timely peek behind the iron curtain. Maria is a member of Pussy Riot - political activists who campaign for political freedom, LGBTQ rights and freedom for the homeland that she loves so much. Crushed under the tyrannical boot of Putin, Maria is an ordinary Russian who just wants the freedom to cho......more


Quotes

“Irreverent, urgent, and illuminating, this bold account offers American readers an invaluable window into contemporary Russia. It’s a winner.”
Publishers Weekly