Play Book Tag discussion

The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld - 4* - My Review

This is a story of inmates in an antiquated prison. It is engrossing in the way horror stories can be engrossing. It is written from the perspectives of a handful of characters – a death row inmate who copes with his confinement by imagining it is an enchanted place, “the lady” who serves as a death penalty investigator trying to reduce sentences, “the fallen priest” who tries to help inmates cope with their imprisonment, “the warden” who treats the prisoners humanely while feeling they deserve their fate, and “the white-haired boy,” a teen who has ended up in prison after being tried as an adult for stealing a car. The disturbing childhoods of the lady and the death row inmates are revealed in heartbreaking detail.

It is obviously not a happy story and contains a great deal of difficult subject matter. It makes no excuses for their crimes but helps the reader view these inmates as people. If a person has become a “monster” there are usually reasons behind it. Though it is classified as magical realism, these visions are the product of an unstable mind, which one might argue is not the true definition of the term. It is beautifully written and is based on the author’s past vocation as a death row penalty investigator. While I cannot say I “enjoyed” this book, I did appreciate its construction and prose. I found it simultaneously disturbing, poignant, and memorable.