I wasn’t really prepared for Coup de Grâce. At its surface, it’s a long monologue of Erick de Lhomond, looking back at an obscure place and time in history, the Baltique provinces in the aftermath of World War I with German corps fighting against communist Russian troops. He’s leading a squad of these corps and takes a base in the castle of his childhood friend Konrad and his sister Sophie. Against this backdrop, a fatal love triangle and psychological intimate theatre evolves.
What surprised me is the homo-erotic nature of this love triangle. While it never is mentioned explicitly due to the time this novella was written, it’s obvious that Sophie’s love for Erick never has a chance because Erick is attracted to men and specifically to Konrad. The way this plays out, ultimately leads to an extraordinary resolution. [As Sophie joins the communist troops she gets caught by Eric’s squad. Her comrades get executed and the one thing she asks of Erick is to be executed by him personally which he does. (hide spoiler)]
An intense and brief character study providing a glimpse into an extraordinary and forgotten setting. It hasn’t aged particularly well due to its specific content but it’s written well enough and the resolution makes it a worthy read that I don’t regret reading it given how short it is.