R Denfeld's ENCHANTED a Spellbinding Tale of Prison & Redemption

Rene Denfield is a journalist and int'l best selling author of Non-Fiction  (The New Victorians.)  ENCHANTED is her 1st novel which has been nominated for the Flaherty-Dunnan Prize.  I drew comparison with Emma Donague's novel ROOM ('10) a Man Booker Finalist.  Both darkly beautiful novels deal with imprisonment.  In ROOM the 5 year old narrator is being held captive with his mother who transforms their Hellish confinement into a sanctuary of love & wonderment.  ENCHANTED is told by an inmate on death row who escapes his forsaken lifes by reading & enshrouding himself in an imagined fantasy world.  The inmate's name is revealed only at the end.  The mute prisoner painstakingly reveals his life story.  Born to a mentally impaired mother unable to care for him, they both become prey to relentless, sexual abuse.  He becomes a ward of the state at 9 and placed in mental health institutions until he turned 18.  He is set free with no one to turn to or any understanding of how to cope in the outside world.  Still, "There are some acts that defy redemption or rage. We all just want to close our eyes to them and forget."  ENCHANTED is a mesmerizing story of the tortuous abyss of prison life. There are caring individuals working inside that provide comfort for the inmates while coping with their own grief.  "Even monsters need a person who truly wants to listen- to hear."  Their stories are as compelling as Arden's.  They provide hope, humanity and the pull of life.