Roxane Gay doesn’t waste time getting the story started in An Untamed State. The novel opens directly with a confession of sorts from the narrator, Mirielle:
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.
They held me captive for thirteen days.
They wanted to break me.
It was not personal.
I was not broken.
