Alice racked her mind for consolation, and couldn’t find it. In the whole of chthonic literature there was nothing on this fundamental problem, there were only varied and detailed accounts of never-ending despair. No one was much interested in how souls got out of Hell. She could only settle on Dante’s answer, the only possibility of salvation in the entire Inferno. Only one being could harrow Hell. “Suppose you’re rescued by an act of divine grace.” “Don’t be a cunt, Alice.”
