The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld

This 2014 novel has to have the most misleading title ever. It's mostly about men who have suffered violence and abuse as children who then have turned to violence themselves as adults. Yes, one of the men does fantasize about imaginary beings, but those imaginings are rather grim, not at all enchanting in the usual sense of the word.

The story, as narrated by a death row inmate in a fortress-like prison, centers around a woman, known only as The Lady, who as a death penalty investigator is assigned to find reasons why her clients should continue in prison rather than go to the death chamber. Through her, we learn the nightmarish background of one such prisoner and something of her own history as well, which is disturbingly similar. Through the narrator, we learn of the corruption and cruelty of life in the prison and of the methods the inmates use to keep from being mentally and physically destroyed. This is an altogether bleak read, for the most part. And yet some characters do find redemption, of one sort or another.

Denfeld provides us with many things to think about: the consequences of child abuse, the failures of the prison system, the burden of guilt, the paths to forgiveness, among others. I did not find The Enchanted to be enchanting, but I do believe it to be well worth reading.