--- product_id: 5289630 title: "An Untamed State" price: "€ 25.64" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.es/products/5289630-an-untamed-state store_origin: ES region: Spain --- # An Untamed State **Price:** € 25.64 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** An Untamed State - **How much does it cost?** € 25.64 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.es](https://www.desertcart.es/products/5289630-an-untamed-state) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description A Haitian American woman survives a brutal kidnapping in this "commanding debut novel" from the New York Times –bestselling author of Bad Feminist ( The New Yorker ). Author and essayist Roxane Gay is celebrated for her incisive commentary on identity and culture, as well as for her bestselling nonfiction and short story collections. Now, with An Untamed State , she delivers a "breathtaking debut novel" ( The Guardian , UK) of wealth in the face of crushing poverty, and the lawless anger produced by corrupt governments. Mireille Duval Jameson is living a fairy tale. The strong-willed youngest daughter of one of Haiti's richest sons, she lives in the United States with her adoring husband and infant son, returning every summer to stay on her father's Port-au-Prince estate. But the fairy tale ends when Mireille is kidnapped in broad daylight by a gang of heavily armed men, just outside the estate walls. Held captive by a man who calls himself The Commander, Mireille waits for her father to pay her ransom. As her father's standoff with the kidnappers stretches out into days, Mireille must endure the torments of a man who despises everything she represents. An Untamed State is a "breathless, artful, disturbing and original" 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 (Meg Wolitzer, author of The Interestings ). Review: Best book I've read in a long while! - I loved this story. It was credible and believable and so very rich and unctuous with the important details that comprise a fabulous book like this one. All the fascinating variables of pride, culture, socioeconomics, politics, gender and sexuality, integrity, humanity, survival, violence and brutality, and deep abiding love are just some of the plethora of facets of the human condition that this author molds into this beautiful story. The intricate skeins of each individual character are combined in this finely woven tale of tragedy and loss and the struggle to survive. Mireille's and her father's pride, as well as her understanding of him create a compelling framework for the dynamics of what happens and how it unfolds. Without their pride and intelligence, perhaps her captivity could have been much easier. But the author builds their stories and personalities carefully throughout so that you can understand that there was probably no other way for the events of the novel to happen. She writes this story so well that it feels like it is the true tale of a woman who survived being a ransom hostage in some of the most brutal circumstances. I especially loved the relationship Mireille had with her mother-in-law Lorraine. It was interesting that their relationship grew from Mireille's strength, support, and perseverance as she cared for Lorraine being treated for cancer. Mireille dropped everything to care for her husband's mother, and Lorraine was obstinate and cantankerous. They exchanged some barbs, but Mireille mostly just took Lorraine's "ornery" behavior and saved those timely barbs for the most appropriate moments. Despite this, their relationship blossomed to multiple weekly phone calls between them. I loved the result of this foundation of their love and relationship being that which Mireille needed for her recovery and to find herself once again. It's Lorraine's stubborn pressure and simple farm life practicality that helps Mireille to move beyond the horror and terror; and you see during her healing with Michael's parents that it could only have been Lorraine to push Mireille through the process. Michael's parents give him the wake up call and wisdom to push through his own issues to be there for her. I loved how step by step Lorraine's compassion, strength, and support awakened Mireille's trust and love and provided the safety she needed to begin to heal. This author filled the pages of this book with many, many wonderful and realistic details that make the characters so alive and real to me. If you like reading about different cultures and perspectives and how people deal with traumatic situations most people could never imagine, and especially the realistic struggles and triumphs to overcome the aftermath. I highly, highly recommend this book. Review: An Extremely Dark Take On A Fairy Tale Gone Wrong - 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. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #683,222 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #3,195 in Contemporary Women Fiction #4,653 in Literary Fiction (Books) #7,141 in Black & African American Women's Fiction (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 2,976 Reviews | ## Images ![An Untamed State - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71cT+wsFnDL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Best book I've read in a long while! *by D***S on April 13, 2015* I loved this story. It was credible and believable and so very rich and unctuous with the important details that comprise a fabulous book like this one. All the fascinating variables of pride, culture, socioeconomics, politics, gender and sexuality, integrity, humanity, survival, violence and brutality, and deep abiding love are just some of the plethora of facets of the human condition that this author molds into this beautiful story. The intricate skeins of each individual character are combined in this finely woven tale of tragedy and loss and the struggle to survive. Mireille's and her father's pride, as well as her understanding of him create a compelling framework for the dynamics of what happens and how it unfolds. Without their pride and intelligence, perhaps her captivity could have been much easier. But the author builds their stories and personalities carefully throughout so that you can understand that there was probably no other way for the events of the novel to happen. She writes this story so well that it feels like it is the true tale of a woman who survived being a ransom hostage in some of the most brutal circumstances. I especially loved the relationship Mireille had with her mother-in-law Lorraine. It was interesting that their relationship grew from Mireille's strength, support, and perseverance as she cared for Lorraine being treated for cancer. Mireille dropped everything to care for her husband's mother, and Lorraine was obstinate and cantankerous. They exchanged some barbs, but Mireille mostly just took Lorraine's "ornery" behavior and saved those timely barbs for the most appropriate moments. Despite this, their relationship blossomed to multiple weekly phone calls between them. I loved the result of this foundation of their love and relationship being that which Mireille needed for her recovery and to find herself once again. It's Lorraine's stubborn pressure and simple farm life practicality that helps Mireille to move beyond the horror and terror; and you see during her healing with Michael's parents that it could only have been Lorraine to push Mireille through the process. Michael's parents give him the wake up call and wisdom to push through his own issues to be there for her. I loved how step by step Lorraine's compassion, strength, and support awakened Mireille's trust and love and provided the safety she needed to begin to heal. This author filled the pages of this book with many, many wonderful and realistic details that make the characters so alive and real to me. If you like reading about different cultures and perspectives and how people deal with traumatic situations most people could never imagine, and especially the realistic struggles and triumphs to overcome the aftermath. I highly, highly recommend this book. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ An Extremely Dark Take On A Fairy Tale Gone Wrong *by G***M on November 5, 2019* 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. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Brutal, emotional, beautiful *by C***N on December 16, 2014* First of all, I want to say that this book does have some very graphic scenes. This is a powerful, gritty, and emotionally suspenseful book. If you have any triggers of sexual abuse, this would not be a good book for you. The book is divided into two parts: Happily Ever After and Once Upon a Time. At first glance, it seems unusual that the author did the parts in that particular order. But it makes sense. Miri lives like a princess in a fairy tale. She is happy and married and loves her family. Then her entire world is changed. During the Happily Ever After section, the author goes back and forth between Miri's captivity and her courtship with her husband, which she refers to as "the before." I am not going to lie: the scenes with her captors are hard to read. They are incredibly raw. Those men do things to her that I can't ever imagine surviving. At times, it seems like the reader is a voyeur, watching something that they have no business watching. But the story is so riveting that I couldn't tear my eyes away. Then comes the aftermath . . . the Once Upon a Time section. Miri also refers to this period in her life as "the after."This part was almost as hard ti read as the beginning. Miri feels abandoned by her father and her husband because it took so long to get her back. She has severe PTSD and feels afraid, even in her own home. Some of the decisions she makes are hard to swallow, but easy to understand given what she has been through. Miri is fighting to get her life back. She feels she has died during her captivity so the second half of the book is about Miri coming back to life. This tests her marriage and her family in a way that has never been tested before. I cried during the second half of the book. When I finished the book, I has to take a few deep breaths. This was such a masterpiece! It was so brutal, yet beautifully written. I really can't think of one thing to change. Here are several powerful quotes from the book: "They held me captive for thirteen days. They wanted to break me. It was not personal. I was not broken. This is what I tell myself." "I made my choice. There is nothing you cannot do when you are no one." "This is what I know -- the body is built to survive. An unknown energy pulsed just beneath my skin. I whispered, "I will survive this."" ""Your mother did not deserve the unwanted attentions of a man like my father," I said, "I did not deserve the unwanted attentions of a man like you. It is often women who pay the price for what men want."" I really think this was one of my favorite books this year, if not the best. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.es/products/5289630-an-untamed-state](https://www.desertcart.es/products/5289630-an-untamed-state) --- *Product available on Desertcart Spain* *Store origin: ES* *Last updated: 2026-05-25*