Magical Realism and Gothic Historicals | Review

 

Discovered: Barnes & Noble
Status: Read
Purchased: Kobo
Mode: Kobo Glo

My previous post has my in-depth reflection of The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld. As previously stated, The Enchanted is one of the most enthralling novels I've read this year. The book is chiefly enthralling due to its magical narrative. You may even mistake is as a fantasy, but its stark portrayal of prison and vice will leave you gasping at the horrors humans are capable of. Yet The Enchanted also portrays redemption and the power of hope even among despair and wretchedness.

Discovered: Books On The Nightstand
Status: Read
Purchased: Barnes & Noble
Mode: Hardcover

If you're looking for a book that has you walking away in soot and blood, The Quick is definitely for you! A recommendation on Books On The Nightstand twitched my interest, but it wasn't until I saw the book's cover at my local Barnes & Noble retailer that I got really interested.  I mean look at it, a sepia photograph of a classic dapper Oxford gentleman reading beside a gorgeous bookshelf. But wait! The photograph is tainted with blood. At first glace, The Quick is a Gothic adventure just waiting to happen and I was hooked after reading the synopsis.

The Quick is about various characters that get entangled in the politics and violence of London's darkest society. It is very easy to ruin the twist of this book, so if you want that "WTF" moment I urge you to just pick it up and read it without doing too much research. Before you know it you'll be drawn into London's bloodiest secrets while strolling through its darkest alleys and inside its most exclusive club.

Magic

 

Discovered: Oyster
Status: Read
Purchased: Oyster
Mode: iPhone

Dragonwyck by Anya Seton is another Gothic romance marvel I picked up at Oyster. Hooray for Oyster for their awesome Gothic Romance list! First published in 1944, Dragonwyck follows Miranda Wells, a young woman from a humble farm, who goes to live with her mother's distant wealthy cousin, Nicolas Van Ryn, as companion to his wife and daughter. At Dragonwyck, Miranda, who had always disdained her humble upbringing, is instantly wooed by the rich and bourgeois lifestyle. She also becomes infatuated with Nicolas who embodies all her romantic notions of genteel and masculinity.

Dragonwyck is a Gothic indulgence. There is the ill-fated love between a young and naive heroine and the older mysterious gentleman. We see this kind of pairing in Rebecca and Jane Eyre. And the story includes other Gothic elements such as the haunted manors, married men and their first wives, mysterious deaths, etc. But Dragonwyck is more than just an angsty love story. It shows the destructive consequences of excess and perceived invincibility. Materialism, class snobbery, even romantic naivete are no longer defenses against the force of social trends and tensions of the time as we see Miranda and Nicolas face their own limitations.

Stay tuned next month for another post on Frontlist Favorites and Backlist Marvels!

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.