The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld | Review

Discovered: Barnes & Noble

Status: Read

Purchased: Kobo

Mode: Kobo Glo

The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld was published on March 4, 2014 by Harper Collins. I first noticed it on the front shelves at my local Barnes & Noble retailer. I picked it up thinking it was a fantasy because of its title and grim cover. I initially thought the three horses to be unicorns (haha). After reading the synopsis, I set the book aside because I was intimidated of reading a story about prison. I admit, I tend to read books about friends, love, and happy endings because I want the lingering emotions of a finished book to be happy not grim. But after much consideration, I quickly purchased The Enchanted on my Kobo Glo before I changed my mind. And let me say, The Enchanted is one of the most enthralling novels I read this year. 

The book takes place at an old unnamed prison. Most of the story is narrated by one of  the inmates on death row. Our narrator has been stuck in his cell for quite some time, separated from general population inmates due to the horrors of his crime. Yet his mind goes beyond the boundaries of his solitary confinement as we learn about the prison and its inhabitants through his point of view. The story is mainly driven by "the lady" as she attempts to save York, a fellow inmate, from death row. As an investigator, she is hired by attorneys to build cases in defense of death row inmates. It is a unique career that questions her own sense of morality and humanity. You ask, why defend and sympathize with murderers? And then you ask, what is this lady's history and what has she gone through? She decides to accept York's case because, unlike previous death row inmates, he has chosen death over life in prison. 

The Enchanted is chiefly enthralling due to its magical realist narrative. It was this element of the novel that propelled me to continue reading despite raw issues of prison corruption, death row, rape, and murder. Our narrator, whose name we later find out to be Arden, sounds surprisingly innocent and childish as he weaves his magic. There are the men between the walls, the flibber-gibbets in the crematorium, and the golden horses underground. The prison seems really enchanted!

Yet despite the magical elements of the novel and prison, Rene Denfeld does not undermine the horrors of humanity. We see it in the prison among the more villainous inmates and their cronies. We see it among the guards who protect the thieves, rapists, and murders rather than protect the victims. But how could there be victims in prison? Are they not all criminals, whose crimes effect the good and innocent? The Enchanted tackles these questions, which stem from our tendencies of clumping evil from the good. 

Also, The Enchanted brings up an enlightening question: Are the inmates cold-blooded murderers or are they also victims of a much larger and broken system? Rene Denfeld suggests that there is always a story beyond the crime. While criminals are cold-blooded killers, they are also products of their own tragic and abusive upbringings. York and the lady are both victims of early childhood sexual abuse, yet the former is behind bars while the latter is free. Again, the strong division we place between good and evil is not so clear.  

The Enchanted truly drew me into the magical and frightening world of prison. At times, I couldn't believe what was happening because the voice seemed so guileless, almost childlike. Yet, the magical realism does not deter the novel from delving into human nature and the complicated divide between good and evil. It also approaches complicated processes of forgiveness and healing among victims and criminals.