Rene Denfeld is the award-winning, bestselling author of five novels including The Enchanted and The Child Finder. Her writing has been praised by Margaret Atwood as "astonishing."

 

Her new literary thriller The Talking Bone is out July 2026 with Harper. "Every harrowing scene quakes with pain and outrage over injustice and the tragic consequences of perpetual hatred and contempt for women. Denfeld is a righteous and resounding storyteller," says a starred review in Booklist. 

For almost twenty years, Rene has worked as a licensed  investigator. The past Chief Investigator for a public defenders, Rene has worked hundreds of cases, including death row and exonerations. Rene is a justice worker and a public speaker. She loves connecting with audiences. 

 

In 2017 The New York Times cited Rene for heroism of the year and she was awarded the Break The Silence Award in Washington, DC. She has received many prestigious literary awards, including a French Prix, a listing for the ALA Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and a listing for the International Dublin Literary Award. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where she is the happy parent of now-adult kids she adopted from foster care. 

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To read Rene's viral Modern Love story in The New York Times , read HERE

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To order her new book click HERE. 

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photos by Brian McDonnell