An Untamed State

by Roxane Gay

"Once you start this book, you will not be able to put it down. An Untamed State is a novel of hope intermingled with fear, a book about possibilities mixed with horror and despair. It is written at a pace that will match your racing heart, and while you find yourself shocked, amazed, devastated, you also dare to hope for the best, for all involved."--Edwidge Danticat, author of Breath, Eyes, Memory and The Dew Breaker

Roxane Gay is a powerful new literary voice whose short stories and essays have already earned her an enthusiastic audience. In An Untamed State, she delivers an assured debut about a woman kidnapped for ransom, her captivity as her father refuses to pay and her husband fights for her release over thirteen days, and her struggle to come to terms with the ordeal in its aftermath.

Mireille Duval Jameson is living a fairy tale. The strong-willed youngest daughter of one of Haiti's richest sons, she has an adoring husband, a precocious infant son, by all appearances a perfect life. The fairy tale ends one day when Mireille is kidnapped in broad daylight by a gang of heavily armed men, in front of her father's Port au Prince estate. Held captive by a man who calls himself The Commander, Mireille waits for her father to pay her ransom. As it becomes clear her father intends to resist the kidnappers, Mireille must endure the torments of a man who resents everything she represents.

An Untamed State is a novel of privilege in the face of crushing poverty, and of the lawless anger that corrupt governments produce. It is the story of a willful woman attempting to find her way back to the person she once was, and of how redemption is found in the most unexpected of places. An Untamed State establishes Roxane Gay as a writer of prodigious, arresting talent.

"From the astonishing first line to the final scene, An Untamed State is magical and dangerous. I could not put it down. Pay attention to Roxane Gay; she's here to stay."--Tayari Jones, author of Silver Sparrow and Leaving Atlanta

"[Haiti's] better scribes, among them Edwidge Danticat, Franketienne, Madison Smartt Bell, Lyonel Trouillot, and Marie Vieux Chavet, have produced some of the best literature in the world. . . . Add to their ranks Roxane Gay, a bright and shining star."--Kyle Minor, author of In the Devil's Territory, on Ayiti

• ISBN10: 0802122515
• ISBN13: 9780802122513
• Publish Date: 6 May 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[teachergorman]

Brilliant and brutal. It made me cry, but not in the places I expected, so my own sobs surprised me. If that's not a sign of powerful writing, I don't know what is.

[gmcgregor]

The theme of fairy tales, and the subversion of that theme, runs throughout Roxane Gay's debut novel, An Untamed State. American-born Mireille is visiting Haiti, where her parents are from and where they've returned in their later years, with her husband and newborn son. They're just leaving the gated compound where her family lives when they're suddenly accosted by kidnappers and Mireille is taken. They demand $1 million for her return, and she's held for 13 days before ransom is paid. During those 13 days, she's brutally raped and tortured, and the woman she is when she's released is a world away from the woman she was before.

We learn about her life through the memories she experiences while she's captive. How she grew up, watching her talented father chafe against the ways in which he was treated as "lesser than" because of his status as an immigrant. Her relationship with her siblings, especially her sister. The way she and her husband Michael met and fell in love. Their privileged life together in Miami, where she's an immigration attorney and he's an engineer. And then when she gets back, how very unable she is to resume that life. The second half of the novel relates Mireille's flight to Michael's family farm in Nebraska to heal...or more accurately, recover enough to be able to deal. The wounds she's suffered aren't the kind that really heal, after all.

The motif of fairy tales is everywhere, from the beginning, where the book literally opens with "once upon a time", to the end, in which Mireille is given the chance to confront one of her captors. When I first read it, the ending bothered me. It seemed too convenient, to tie things up too neatly. Life doesn't work that way, and otherwise the book is deeply, unflinchingly realistic. When you think about it through the context of fairy tales, though, it has that kind of wish fulfillment that the modern versions of these stories often do. But the bulk of the story is filled with the things that get cut out of the tales for today's world: the violence inflicted on Mireille is completely unvarnished and it is very difficult to read.

And that difficulty of reading is the only reason I'm not more enthusiastic about this novel. Roxane Gay is a phenomenal writer and the book is compelling and hard to put down. She draws realistic, captivating characters who have shades of gray and consistent internal logic, and the way she subverts Mireille's "fairy tale" narrative of her life with Michael by showing us its sometimes-ugly underbelly is brilliant. I could go on forever about how incredibly-written it is. But with the subject matter being what it is, it's hard to recommend this book widely. There's a great deal of sexual, physical and emotional abuse. If that's something you're able to handle, I'd definitely recommend it.

[sarahjay]

I don't know if I'll ever have the right words for this book but it's amazing and everyone should read it.

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

Mireille Duval Jameson thinks of life as a fairy tale, that was until a trip home to visit her parents sees her kidnapped in broad daylight. Her father is a wealthy man living in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and her captives are none too pleased with him. An Untamed State is a brutal, unflinching debut that deals with poverty, corruption and the damaging effects of being held captive.

“Once upon a time, my life was a fairy tale and then I was stolen from everything I’ve ever loved. There was no happily ever after. After days of dying, I was dead.”

Roxane Gay had a fantastic year in 2014, her collection of essays Bad Feminist received a lot of praise in the bookish community and her debut novel also released in the same year was a stunning success. An Untamed State was not released in Australia until recently and I was finally able to see why this book was hyped so much. While this was a fast paced thriller that flowed quickly, the brutal nature of this novel made it difficult to read. I felt myself picking up pace multiple times only to hit a brutal gang rape or abusive part that tripped me up and brought my reading to a slower speed. This is a very difficult book to read but I still think it is an important novel.

An Untamed State is hard hitting and deals with some very complex issue; the type of issues that need to be talked about. I was a little put off by the over-representation of violence but I wonder if we can talk about this issues without getting a feeling of just how devastating torture, rape and kidnapping can be on a person? Not only are we reading about the psychological damage done to Mireille’s life and family, An Untamed State deals with the issues facing a country like Haiti. The crippling poverty of the country, while a few live in luxury and the corruption of the government also play a major part in this novel.

The book is told in two parts; the first half deals with the kidnapping and the unspeakable things that happen to Mireille while held captive waiting for her father to pay the ransom. Then the second half deals with the aftermath. This allows the reader to look at the damage; from post-traumatic stress to the psychological impact on Mireille. An Untamed State was dedicated to women everywhere and it was interesting that such a brutal book would have that inscription. Although it is time we had a conversation about rape and its damage; I think this novel does this successfully.

An Untamed State may be an unflinching and brutal novel but it is a powerful literary debut that deals with some important issues. I am hesitant to recommend this book or even praise it, however it does need to be discussed. You are in for an uncomfortable journey and Roxane Gay will not hold back. I think this will make for an interesting book club selection but I think that could either make for a fascinating discussion or kill the book club completely.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2015/03/04/an-untamed-state-by-roxane-gay/

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

Fond of:
An Untamed State puts your stomach in knots. The thing I liked most about Gay's novel is that she does not go ultra graphic with the rape and torture scenes. It is enough for the reader to realize the extremity of the situation but was not sickened enough to cease my reading. I also liked that it showed the after-effects of Mireille's captivity. This included Mireille's PTSD, inability to cope and the lack of understanding by those around her.

Not Fond of:
Like The Commander I found Mireille arrogant. Outside of her bubble she didn't look around her and instead got a babysitter and had wine on the beach with her husband. Even after her release, her stubbornness irked me. People couldn't understand I get that, but the refusal of her own husband who only tried to help got to me.

Conclusion:
Disturbing, uncomfortable and makes you wiggle in your seat -- a compulsive read. An Untamed State is a novel you need to take a breather for but are unwilling to surface.

[Beth C.]

First, let me note that this book could very well be a trigger for women who have experienced sexual assault. If you are at all sensitive to such things, then I would recommend maybe checking into it further (library?) before purchasing.

Miri is a daughter of Haiti - her parents are from there, though they got the start in the United States. They met there, and lived there for years, saving money to move back. Summers were spent in Haiti with family. Eventually, Miri's parents moved back while Miri stayed in the US, marrying an American. On a trip back to visit her (now very wealthy) parents, Miri is kidnapped. In Haiti, this is very common - people are kidnapped every day, and there are professional negotiators to help talk down the fee, then the kidnapped is returned unharmed. Except this time, Miri's father refuses to pay the ransom. As Miri is trapped, the reader learns about her childhood, her courtship, and her family - all while experiencing through Miri's eyes her continual need to survive.

Rarely do I read something so horrifying, yet so hauntingly beautiful. This could be a "ripped from the headlines", except that long after the news reporters would have moved onto something else, this story covers the aftermath in all its painful reality. The writing is gorgeous, which seems strange to say about a topic so brutal. The violence within the story is NEVER gratuitous, it just...is what it is. Honestly, the hardest part to read is the aftermath - the exploration of what one does to survive such a thing, and if it's possible to ever truly recover.

It's a sensitive subject, and Roxane Gay handles it beautifully. It's a hard subject to read about, but in her exploration of Haiti's people and culture, it becomes clear that this same problem (the haves vs. the have-nots) exists in so many other places and is often the root of many similar problems. A timely book, and a beautiful one.