An Untamed State

In Gay’s debut novel, protagonist Mireille is living a charmed life with a fulfilling law career, a loving husband, a baby son, and a beautiful Miami home. But on a family visit to her wealthy parents in Haiti, she is kidnapped and held for ransom for 13 horrifying days, during which she is tortured, starved, and gang-raped. Finally freed, she struggles to overcome the trauma and put the shattered pieces of her life back together. Reader Miles’s portrayal of Mireille is nothing short of phenomenal. As Mireille describes her ordeal, her voice struggles to stay calm and neutral, the occasional tremor or sob revealing the anguish that lies under her thin veneer of control. Describing how she fought her captors, her voice is full of fierce, wild rage; at other times, it falls to a whisper, empty and hopeless. Miles also creates authentic, memorable voices for the other characters, including the brutal, Haitian-accented “Commander” and Lorraine, Mireille’s practical, Midwestern mother-in-law. Her breathtaking performance is not to be missed. A Black Cat paperback. (Sept.)