The Enchanted

The Enchanted (2014) is the psychological and literary debut novel by American author Rene Denfeld. Set in an ancient prison made of stone somewhere in America, the story is narrated by a nameless inmate who finds solace in the darkness of solitary confinement by retreating into his own imagination. When an investigator known as The Lady arrives to examine the case of another prisoner named York, a death row inmate who has given up appeals after 12 years, she uncovers a harrowing truth that may lead all three of them to their improbable salvation. The novel explores themes of identity, sympathy, redemption, imprisonment, finding beauty in pain, and the power of one’s imagination as a therapeutic escape. The Enchanted has been called “a stunning first novel” by Publishers Weekly, an “impressive debut” by Library Journal, and “evocative” by Booklist.

Omnisciently narrated by a nameless man who has been mute since age six, the story begins in an old, unnamed prison. The narrator resides on death-row in the underground dungeon, which he describes as “enchanted” because its inhabitants are under the spell of death. The narrator explains that he was placed in a mental hospital as a child, where he remained until he did something “too terrible to name” to another child at the age of 18. He left the hospital and found refuge in the prison library until, when unavoidably prodded, he beat another man so badly that he was placed in solitary confinement. Loath to be dispirited in the dark dungeon, the narrator finds rays of light in the various books he reads and the reaffirming images he conjures in his mind. “The most wonderful enchanted things happen here – the most enchanted things you can imagine,” says the narrator. These enchanted things include golden horses that run wildly underground beneath the prison, little men equipped with pick-axes who are in the walls, and flibber-gibbets, creatures that eat human flesh and subsist on the warmth of death itself. The narrator copes with the soul-crushing confinement through the magical power of his fantastical imagination.

An investigator known as The Lady arrives at the maximum-security prison. She is there to investigate the case of another inmate, York. York, who has been on death row for 12 years, has given up his appeal process. The Lady, enlisted by York’s lawyers to examine his case, has been given one summer to prove his crimes do not warrant death. The Lady uncovers a series of crimes York perpetrated against young girls, although the exact crimes remain unspecified. It turns out that York has a past of sexual abuse, spurred on by his beautiful, mentally impaired mother who slept with nearly everyone in their small town. Her lovers would often take advantage of York as well, which is how he came to be born with syphilis. The Lady unearths this fact and tries to use it as admissible evidence to commute York’s life sentence. However, time is running out for The Lady, as York genuinely wants to die at this point in his life. The Lady, who learns that she has a lot in common with York in her outside life, tries desperately to save the man, thereby ensuring her own salvation. The Lady comes to interpret that York isn’t inherently evil, but a criminal byproduct of his own violent environment.

Along the way, The Lady meets a Fallen Priest who visits the row to offer spiritual counsel to the inmates slated for execution. The priest serves as a chaplain who reads letters from loved ones to inmates before their demise. The priest, lonely, disgraced, and beset with his own sense of guilt for betraying his vows, now feels far more useful ministering to inmates rather than churchgoers. The Lady, who is broken and looking for a mate, becomes closer to the priest as the story progresses. The two, sharing similar scars from dealing with violent childhood sexual abuse, find solace in each other’s company.

The Lady also digs into the case of White-Haired Boy, a newly-imprisoned 16-year-old serving a two-year sentence for his first offense. We also meet a kindhearted warden who believes in his career path, who favors the death penalty but does not find executions enjoyable. The warden is oblivious to the corrupt corrections officer who works below him. The warden is too preoccupied with his wife’s cancer to notice all of the violence that goes on under his nose. The warden is inherently good, despite being unaware of the hell that he presides over.

As the story progresses, the narrator’s name is eventually revealed to be Arden. Though Arden exposes the culture of prison corruption, rape, and violence, through his enchanted imaginings, he finds “beauty in the pain.” His escapist reading becomes literal, and the magic he imagines within the dark walls of the prison transcends physical confinement. In the end, despite being treated compassionately by the Warden in small doses, Arden is put to death. During his execution, Arden feels remorse for the mother of Donald, the person he killed when he was eighteen, thereby accepting his fate. The Lady stops investigating and abides by York’s wish to be executed by the state as a means of freeing his damaged soul.

The Enchanted won the French Prix Award in 2014, as well as the 2015 ALA Medal of Excellence for Fiction. Rene Denfeld is a licensed investigator specializing in the death penalty. She based the character of The Lady on her own experiential fieldwork on the subject, giving the novel a rare insight into the corrupt nature of the U.S. criminal system, and the haunting culture of death-row inmates. Denfeld published a second novel, The Child Finder, in 2017. In November 2017, Denfeld was awarded the Break the Silence Award in Washington D.C. for her advocacy for victims of criminal injustice.