For the first time, the WNBA All-Star will discuss her experiences being imprisoned in Russia.
The highly anticipated memoir by the WNBA All-Star and Phoenix Mercury player was revealed on Tuesday on Good Morning America, along with the book’s cover and release date. Coming Home, which Alfred A. Knopf will publish in the spring of 2024, will tell Griner’s story—told in her own words—of her captivity in Russia and her return to the United States.While traveling to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg on February 17, 2022, Griner was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport for possessing cannabis oil. In Russia, the substance is prohibited. Griner entered a guilty plea to her charges in July 2022 while being detained in a women’s correctional colony. She was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Griner, 33, stated in a statement that “Coming Home is a story of hope and survival, of before and after.” Before, I was thrilled to win another title as I traveled to Russia, a country I’ve called my second home. I played, won, and spent extended periods of time living there for eight seasons. I woke up in an after I’d wished on no one a short while later and in a different world.In the same month, the Biden administration proposed exchanging Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner in order to free him from prison. Griner was detained in Russia for ten months before arriving back in the US in December 2022.
Griner’s book will discuss the hardships she encountered, such as arriving in Russia shortly after the nation invaded Ukraine, figuring out the Russian legal system, and going through the “emotional and physical anguish” of being the first American woman detained in a Russian penal colony.Griner will also talk about how her wife Cherelle Griner “anchored” her after she spoke out about her arrest and asked President Biden for assistance. She will also talk about the global support that Griner received from the #WeAreBG movement, which went viral. Griner has fought for other Americans detained overseas, such as veteran Paul Whelan and journalist Evan Gershkovitch, after being named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in 2023.
“Coming Home is the journal of my heartaches and regrets, and it begins in a land where my roots developed,” Griner remarked. “However, in the end, the book is also about how my faith, my family, and the millions of people who came together to save me helped me get through a nightmare.”
