Author of "The Enchanted" Rene Denfeld on a different kind of truth about death row and the people connected to it
Almost every night, the corpse valets collect the dead. Even down here in the dungeon I hear them, pushing their squeaking carts down the stone halls far above me. They come here too, after every execution. The door slams, and the men down the row turn their faces to walls, afraid to see the caretakers of death pushing their cart. Really, there is nothing to see. Even under their hoods, their faces are folded into themselves. If you were to touch them, they would disappear, like smoke.Excerpt from Rene Denfeld's new novel, "The Enchanted"
Photo by Gary Norman
In spite of its title, "The Enchanted" is a dark exploration of the world of death row and the men and women who are connected to it.
Rene Denfeld is among them. For her, the prisoners on death row are not just characters. They are people in her life.
Rene Denfeld is a death row investigator, as well as the author of "The Enchanted." She was in Portland, Oregon.
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This segment was produced by The Current's Howard Goldenthal.
Last Word: Shareen Ashraf on Quebec election results
In January, as the hearings into the proposed, now presumed dead Secular Charter were being held in Quebec City, The Current went to Montreal. We held a public event ... and one of the people who joined us was Shaheen Ashraf. She is the Secretary of the Montreal chapter of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women. And she told us how the charter had made her feel unwelcome in the province she has called home for most of her adult life.
This morning, she spoke with Daybreak's Mike Finnerty about last night's Quebec election and she's feeling very different. Shareen Ashraf gets today's last word.