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Gay, herself Haitian American, has focused on the Haitian diaspora before in the collection “Ayiti,” which includes the original story from which this novel was developed.
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In the eventual aftermath of her kidnapping, Mireille reveals the truth for many women who survive such a traumatic event: “I had no idea what to do with myself, how to move forward from one moment to the next, how to be alive.” Because Mireille is portrayed as a flawed, three-dimensional person, not just a symbol of suffering, Gay’s novel puts a face, a name and especially a voice to the rampant global violence against women. Mireille’s memories of her time before the kidnapping provide a respite for her and the reader. Her captivity experience is suspenseful, immediate and at times mercilessly realistic. Gay has created a straightforward style and defiant voice that drive Mireille’s recollections. I would never forget that sound, the empty whisper of soft hands preparing to do hard things.” Before her first rape, she describes her impression of the man: “He rubbed his hands together. We are witnesses to her intimate thoughts during the 13 days she is held captive, when her body proves “breakable but unbroken.” Her recollection of every sensory detail captures the horror of her abuse by the Commander and the men under his command. Mireille is visiting her parents’ estate in Port-au-Prince with her husband and baby when she gets abducted.
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She frames it as a fairy tale: “Once upon a time, in a far-off land, I was kidnapped by a gang of fearless yet terrified young men with so much impossible hope beating inside their bodies it burned their very skin and strengthened their will right through their bones.” 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.įrom the first sentence, we know Mireille has found a way to craft her story to make it bearable. She is no stranger to providing a voice for those who may have obstacles to sharing theirs. From her prose collection “Ayiti” to her Twitter feed to her forthcoming book of essays, “Bad Feminist,” she does not shy away from calling attention to all forms of disenfranchisement. Gay is a writer attuned to inequality, a condition she explores in fiction and nonfiction. The story told in Roxane Gay’s debut novel, “An Untamed State,” is Mireille’s way of regaining her identity after her release.
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“I was no one.” These four words are the refrain of Mireille Duval Jameson, a young Haitian American attorney held captive for 13 days and brutally tortured by local criminals in Port-au-Prince.