An Untamed State is Roxane Gay’s first novel.
Finished on: 15.3.2025

Content Note: rape, sexualized violence, abduction, torture, abuse

Plot:
Mireille’s parents are from Haiti, Mireille herself was born and raised in the United States where her father Sebastien started to make good money. With their wealth, her parents have returned to Haiti, and Mireille is taking her white husband Michael and their child there for a holiday. As they want to leave her parents‘ home for a daytrip, Mireille is kidnapped, though, and her father is unwilling to pay the ransom, leaving Mireille at the mercy of The Commander.

An Untamed State is a very good book that I hardly dare to recommend to anyone because it is such a heavy, bruising read that feels almost traumatizing. It’s both a page-turner and a thought-provoking analysis. Either way, it is not for the faint of heart.

Right at the start of the book, Mireille tells us that she survived 13 days – 13 days that Gay outlines in all of their horror, while also avoiding anything that could resemble a titillating detail (as is too often the case in stories with sexualized violence). It’s a tightrope act that is rather breathtaking, especially since it never leaves Mireille and her perspective. In the end, it is a bit like you’re experiencing the violence that she has to endure yourself.

And that is harrowing, the reason why you should proceed with all caution when it comes to this book, especially if you are a victim of sexualized violence yourself. It might not be the book for you. I am not particularly sensitive, and have consumed my fair share of horror media, but I had a tough time with the book.

At the same time, though, I also blazed through it, always coming back to the fact that Mireille lives through the pain, that she survives. I had to see what happened next, how she survived. Thankfully, Gay doesn’t stop the story with Mireille’s survival, but shows us the lasting impact the events had on her – while also giving us hope and strength because a life afterwards is possible still, albeit not one unchanged.

Through it all, An Untamed State is also a deeply political novel, exploring the intersection of class and gender as two men wage their class war through a woman’s body. It’s never simple, but it’s always clear-sighted in its analysis, including also, how Michael, as a white man, always remains somewhat at the outside of Mireille’s experiences, no matter how much he loves her.

I had high hopes for this novel – the first of Gay’s work that I read, albeit being aware of her and her work for a long time – and found them more than fulfilled. I am looking forward to discovering more of her work, but I do hope that it features a little less torture.

Summarizing: if you can stomach it, you should definitely read it.