''An Untamed State'' is the
debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...
of writer
Roxane Gay
Roxane Gay (born October 15, 1974) is an American writer, professor, editor, and social commentator. Gay is the author of ''The New York Times'' best-selling essay collection ''Bad Feminist'' (2014), as well as the short story collection ''Ayiti ...
, first published in 2014 by
Grove Atlantic
Grove Atlantic, Inc. is an American independent publisher, based in New York City. Formerly styled "Grove/Atlantic, Inc.", it was created in 1993 by the merger of Grove Press and Atlantic Monthly Press. As of 2018 Grove Atlantic calls itself "An ...
.
Plot
Mireille Duval Jameson is born and raised in the United States, her parents are from
Haitian descent. Her parents move back to Haiti. While vacationing at her parents' house with her husband and child in Haiti, she is kidnapped. When her father, who by now has become a wealthy Haitian developer, refuses to pay her ransom, she is gang-raped and tortured by her captors, who keep her imprisoned for 13 days before finally releasing her.
"Happily Ever After"
In the first portion of the book, called "Happily Ever After," the novel moves back and forth in time between Mireille's captivity and her earlier life, meeting and falling in love with husband Michael during graduate school in the
Midwest of the United States.
"Once Upon a Time"
The latter section of the novel, "Once Upon a Time," follows Mireille in the aftermath of her
trauma
Trauma most often refers to:
*Major trauma, in physical medicine, severe physical injury caused by an external source
*Psychological trauma, a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event
*Traumatic inju ...
, including her time living with Michael's mother, Lorraine, on the family farm in
Nebraska.
Themes
Commentary on ''An Untamed State'' frequently cites the novel's emphasis on
fairy tale. Reviewing the novel for the ''
Los Angeles Times'', Chris Daley suggests the fairy tale theme serves to translate unspeakable trauma: "Written from Mireille's perspective, 'An Untamed State' is an account of what is normally unaccountable: a level of trauma that, even if it is survived, is often too painful to relate. From the first sentence, we know Mireille has found a way to craft her story to make it bearable. She frames it as a fairy tale: 'Once upon a time, in a far-off land, I was kidnapped'".
In the ''New York Times'',
Holly Bass said in contrast to contemporary, happy-ending-focused fairy tales, Gay's interpretation of the genre recalled "the real horrors of the original
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among th ...
stories and their ilk ... that a passing stranger raped
Sleeping Beauty as she lay unconscious, or that
Snow White's jealous stepmother not only called for her death but wanted to eat her liver and lungs. Roxane Gay's striking debut novel, 'An Untamed State,' is a fairy tale in this vein, its complex and fragile moral arrived at through great pain and high cost."
Reception
Reviews
''An Untamed State'' received positive reviews upon publication. Nolan Feeney writing for ''
Time'' called it a "riveting debut" that "captivates from its opening sentence and doesn't let go." The ''Los Angeles Times'' called it "suspenseful, immediate and realistic."
''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cr ...
'' awarded it an A letter grade and praised it as "a gripping psychological portrait of how trauma remakes the body to respond only to itself."
Awards
Gay was nominated for an
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Fiction in 2015 for ''An Untamed State''.
Adaptation
In March 2016 director
Gina Prince-Bythewood
Gina Maria Prince-Bythewood (born June 10, 1969) is an American film director and screenwriter. She is known for directing the films ''Love & Basketball'' (2000), '' Disappearing Acts'' (2000), '' The Secret Life of Bees'' (2008), ''Beyond the Li ...
announced she would be adapting the novel into a feature film for
Fox Searchlight. Prince-Bythewood and Gay will co-write the film, to star
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha-Raw (; born 21 April 1983) is a British actress who is known for her performances on stage and screen. In 2017 she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama ...
. Prince-Bythewood will direct and will also produce with
Michael De Luca
Michael De Luca (born August 13, 1965) is an American film studio executive, film producer and screenwriter. The former president of production at both New Line Cinema and DreamWorks, De Luca has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Bes ...
.
Prince-Bythewood and Mbatha-Raw previously collaborated on ''
Beyond the Lights
''Beyond the Lights'' is a 2014 American romantic drama film directed and written by Gina Prince-Bythewood. The film stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Nate Parker, Minnie Driver, Machine Gun Kelly, and Danny Glover. The film premiered at the 2014 Toronto ...
''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Untamed State
2014 American novels
Novels set in Haiti
Gang rape in fiction
Grove Atlantic books
Literature by African-American women
2014 debut novels