An Untamed State - by Roxane Gay (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - FINALIST FOR THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE, HURSTON/WRIGHT LEGACY AWARD, AND PEN OPEN BOOK AWARD

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: Washington Post, Boston Globe, and NPR

"Magical and dangerous. I could not put it down."--Tayari Jones, bestselling author of Kin

From the New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist and Hunger, a "smart, searing" (Washington Post) novel following a strong-willed Haitian American woman who must survive a brutal kidnapping--now featuring a new foreword by the author

Published to terrific acclaim and a national bestseller, An Untamed State heralded Roxane Gay as a prodigious, arresting talent and one of the preeminent writers working today.

By all appearances, Mireille Duval Jameson is living the perfect life: she's the daughter of one of Haiti's richest sons and has an adoring husband and a precocious infant son. The fairytale ends 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 for ransom, Mireille must endure the torments of a man who calls himself the Commander and who resents everything she represents.

A powerful, unflinching story of wealth in the face of crushing poverty and the lawless anger that corrupt governments produce, Roxane Gay's brilliant debut is the tale of one strong-willed woman, and redemption found in the most unexpected of places.

Review Quotes

Praise for An Untamed State:

"[A] commanding début . . . Mireille's struggle to maintain a sense of self while being denied her freedom produces the novel's most powerful chapters."--New Yorker

"Roxane Gay's riveting debut, An Untamed State, captivates from its opening sentence and doesn't let go. . . . Let this be the year of Roxane Gay: you'll tear through An Untamed State, but ponder it for long after."--Time

"A fairy tale . . . its complex and fragile moral arrived at through great pain and high cost. . . . Perhaps Haiti, too, is a beautiful princess, well-versed in the vagaries of men, still searching for a happily ever after."--The New York Times Book Review

"Poignant . . . haunting . . . When Mireille is finally freed, her rocky adjustment harkens to that of the mother in Emma Donoghue's Room. . . . Gay writes of her homeland beautifully, describing it in the conflicting, nuanced way that will ring familiar to Americans whose parents hail from troubled lands. . . . Gorgeous writing . . . A wonderful and affecting read."--Associated Press

"Gay may be working in territory many American readers know through the lyrical stories of Edwidge Danticat, but her style is wholly her own: direct, bracing and propulsive. . . . [A] smart, searing novel."--Ron Charles, The Washington Post

"To say that An Untamed State 'tells the story' of Mireille Duval Jameson--an American lawyer, wife, and new mother, who, while visiting her Haitian parents in Port Au Prince, falls victim to the wave of kidnappings plaguing that city--would be inadequate. Rather, Gay compels her readers to breathe and bleed [it]. . . . Brutally and vividly rendered."--The Philadelphia Inquirer

"A terrific read. . . . [Gay's] portrayal of a woman who fights her strongest fight to resist being defeated by her captors is compelling and agonizingly felt by the reader."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"I applaud Gay's courage: She writes candidly, vividly, and necessarily . . . You will find it difficult to resist her flawless pacing [and] sharp, clear prose."--The Miami Herald

"Set in Haiti, Roxane Gay's first novel, An Untamed State, is a roundhouse kick to notions of privilege."--Vanity Fair (Hot Type)

"Wrenching . . . Vividly written."--Jennifer Weiner, USA Today

"Clear your schedule now! 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. . . . It is written at a pace that will match your racing heart."--Edwidge Danticat, author of Claire of the Sea Light

"A gripping psychological portrait of how trauma remakes the body to respond only to itself."--Ellen Wernecke, The Onion AV Club

"Harrowing: truly, it harrows. With iron teeth it pulls up things that do not want to be pulled up. . . . Remarkable."--NPR

"Excellent . . . Brilliant, eye opening, and necessary. . . . Gay's prose is direct and muscular, unflinchingly confronting the reality she's created. . . . To call it 'hard to put down' is an understatement; I lost sleep over it, and won't forget it anytime soon."--Alison Hallett, Portland Mercury

"One of the most unsettling books of the year . . . a compelling and at times painful read that addresses the issues of economic privilege, immigration, and sexual assault."--Tomi Obaro, Chicago Magazine

"A gripping tale of a young mother ensnared in Haiti's explosive class struggle."--Natalie Beach, O Magazine ("15 Titles to Pick Up Now")

"An Untamed State is breathless, artful, disturbing and original. I won't ever forget it."--Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female Persuasion

"Poised to affect anyone who reads the book. . . . Gay weaves a story that is thrilling and readable and, surprisingly, incredibly enjoyable. It is, ultimately, about survival, but walking away from the story unaffected-both the reader and the characters within-is impossible."--Jessi Cape, The Austin Chronicle

"There are times when reading a novel is painful. Not because the prose is lacking or the narrative lags, but because the subject matter verges on the unbearable. Roxane Gay's debut novel, An Untamed State, falls under this last category. And yet, you must read it anyway . . . A rich, beautifully crafted novel, which should establish Roxane Gay as a writer who has something important to say and who knows how to say it."--Susan Buttenwieser, The Brooklyn Rail

"An Untamed State is the kind of book you have to keep putting down because you can't believe how good it is. Awesome, powerful, impossible to ignore, Roxane Gay is a literary force of nature. An Untamed State arrives like a hurricane."--Mat Johnson, author of Pym

"Roxane Gay is a rockstar talent who's already left her mark on the literary world, and her dazzling debut novel is certain to cement her place. . . . [a] haunting tale."--Bustle

"Riveting."--Paste Magazine

"[A] startling debut novel . . . There are no easy answers to be found in An Untamed State, and Gay, in elegant, fierce, poetic prose that evokes early-career Margaret Atwood, forces her characters to reach across all borders to find some final sense of reason. It's a hard-won discovery, surely, but one absolutely worth the journey. This is a novel not easily forgotten. --Las Vegas Weekly

"A harrowing, suspenseful novel about the connections between sexual violence and political rage, narrated in a voice at once traumatized and eerily controlled. Roxane Gay is a remarkable writer, an astute observer of Haitian society and a deeply sympathetic, unflinching chronicler of the compromises people make in order to survive under the most extreme conditions."--Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children and Nine Inches

"[A] riveting debut novel . . . There is such a staggering sense of strength, confidence and integrity to Gay's telling. . . . An Untamed State is a gem, blasted into beauty by the world's harshest conditions. This gripping debut has set the table for many great works to come."--Margaret Wappler, Bookforum

"[A] superbly written and excoriating first tale of terror and suspense . . . Gay is a daring and transfixing storyteller. . . . Ferocious, gripping, and unforgettable."--Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review)

"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, bestselling author of Kin

"Harrowing . . . It's terrifying, this novel, but heartbreaking, because [Mireille's] relationships are part of the dilemma. . . . I felt this powerfully."--John Freeman, BOMB

"Gay brilliantly writes of the story's external events while skillfully capturing Mireille's internal anguish."--Library Journal (starred review)

"A simmering, sometimes brutal examination of love, privilege, the meaning of home, and the horrific damage that can come to women at the hands of men. . . . It would be a spoiler to say who does the most to help Mireille out of the horrors and back into life, but there is someone. And in that memorably lovely arc, An Untamed State--a novel partly about betrayal by one's own family--becomes a novel about familial redemption, too."--Laura Collins-Hughes, The Boston Globe

"A harrowing and emotionally clear-eyed vision of one woman's ordeal during and after her kidnapping in Haiti. . . A cutting and resonant debut."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A searing portrait of a politically and economically divided Haiti . . . Disturbing and frighteningly resonant."--Publishers Weekly

"Incredible and unflinching."--Jessica Valenti, The Guardian (US)

About the Author

Roxane Gay's writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, A Public Space, McSweeney's, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women and the New York Times bestselling Hunger. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. She has several books forthcoming and is also at work on television and film projects. She also has a newsletter, The Audacity. She is a recipient of the PEN Center USA Free to Write Award and the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and splits her time between New York and Los Angeles.