Coup de Grâce by Sofia Ajram: Review by Gabino Iglesias
Coup de Grâce, Sofia Ajram (Titan Books 978-1-80336-962-4, $19.99, 144pp, hc) October 2024.
Sofia Ajram’s Coup de Grâce is a relentlessly dark and visceral novel about a man on his way to commit suicide who somehow becomes trapped in the endless liminal space of an empty subway station. Beautifully written and claustrophobic in the way only empty liminal spaces can be, this short novel delivers breathtaking lines along with heavy doses of ennui, suicidal ideation, body horror, and desperation.
Vicken wants to end his life by throwing himself into Montreal’s Saint Lawrence River. After a lifetime of suffering and depression, the idea of ending it all is very appealing. But in order to jump into the river, Vicken first has to get to it, and on his way there, he becomes trapped in an endless subway station. There’s no one around, and the place is much bigger than he remembers; an endless maze of empty rooms and hallways that lead to more of the same. Vicken is able to find food, meets an older woman and spends time with her, finds rooms that, for one reason or another, are a bit different, and eventually tries his luck with an elevator, but none of it works, none of it gets him out of the station and back home.
This is a story about a man lost in an endless, impossible place, but it’s also much more than that. Ajram uses liminal space to explore trauma and loneliness, for example, and the result is one of the most impressive novellas of the year; a tight, fast, lyrical nightmare that pulls readers in almost immediately and then refuses to let go.
We are all trapped inside ourselves, and that’s what is really at the core of this narrative. Yes, Ajram dips his toes into many topics, but at the heart of this story is a man trapped inside himself, a man who has been unable to escape the darkness within and thus only dreams of getting a break from everything. Ah, but once trapped in those endless corridors and empty rooms, things change. Who we are and what we feel partly comes from our surroundings, and when we are forced to face ourselves, we realize just how much of an impact the outside world has on us every day.
Most of this novel is terrific, but some readers may struggle with the choose-your-own-adventure format at the end. My recommendation? Keep reading. The story finds itself again and delivers a satisfying ending. Ajram is definitely an author to watch, and here she delivers the kind of writing that announces the arrival of a major new voice in horror fiction. And this is horror fiction, not whatever people decided to call it – elevated horror, very dark literary fiction, literary horror, etc. All of those imply that horror can’t be well-written and, when it is, it should be called something else. No, this is horror; a story about depression and wanting to die that features plenty of death, decay, fear, hopelessness, and bodily fluids.
Ajram is a lyricist of the highest order. That thought came back to me again and again while I read this, and I’m still thinking about it now. Definitely one of the best novellas of the year. Don’t miss it.
Gabino Iglesias is a writer, journalist, professor, and book reviewer living in Austin TX. He is the author of Zero Saints and Coyote Songs and the editor of Both Sides. His work has been nominated to the Bram Stoker and Locus Awards and won the Wonderland Book Award for Best Novel in 2019. His short stories have appeared in a plethora of anthologies and his non-fiction has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and CrimeReads. His work has been published in five languages, optioned for film, and praised by authors as diverse as Roxane Gay, David Joy, Jerry Stahl, and Meg Gardiner. His reviews appear regularly in places like NPR, Publishers Weekly, the San Francisco Chronicle, Criminal Element, Mystery Tribune, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and other print and online venues. He’s been a juror for the Shirley Jackson Awards twice and has judged the PANK Big Book Contest, the Splatterpunk Awards, and the Newfound Prose Prize. He teaches creative writing at Southern New Hampshire University’s online MFA program. You can find him on Twitter at @Gabino_Iglesias.
This review and more like it in the January 2025 issue of Locus.
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