An Untamed State

Mireille Duval Jameson, a young lawyer from one of Haiti's richest families, leads a charmed life living in Miami with her engineer husband, Michael, and their young son. Then she is kidnapped and held for ransom while visiting her parents in Haiti. For 13 days the headstrong Mireille suffers unbelievable horrors while waiting for her father to pay for her release. In vivid detail, Gay (Ayiti) tells the story mostly in Mireille's voice, weaving much of her life story into the day-to-day accounts of terror and cruelty during her captivity. Once released, the broken Mireille, suffering from PTSD, trusts no men, not even Michael. While Gay skillfully depicts Mireille's suffering both during and after the kidnapping, the book's unremitting narrative of pain is difficult to listen to, raising doubts about the necessity of so much graphic violence. Robin Miles's clear and expressive reading captures the emotional atmosphere that pervades the book.