🔗 Share this article John Boyne's Latest Review: Interwoven Stories of Pain Young Freya is visiting her self-absorbed mother in Cornwall when she encounters 14-year-old twins. "The only thing better than knowing a secret," they advise her, "is having one of your own." In the days that follow, they sexually assault her, then bury her alive, combination of unease and irritation darting across their faces as they ultimately release her from her temporary coffin. This might have stood as the jarring focal point of a novel, but it's merely a single of many awful events in The Elements, which assembles four short novels – issued individually between 2023 and 2025 – in which characters confront past trauma and try to achieve peace in the current moment. Controversial Context and Thematic Exploration The book's publication has been marred by the inclusion of Earth, the subsequent novella, on the longlist for a significant LGBTQ+ writing prize. In August, most other candidates dropped out in objection at the author's controversial views – and this year's prize has now been cancelled. Conversation of LGBTQ+ matters is missing from The Elements, although the author addresses plenty of significant issues. Homophobia, the effect of mainstream and online outlets, family disregard and assault are all examined. Distinct Stories of Trauma In Water, a grieving woman named Willow relocates to a secluded Irish island after her husband is incarcerated for terrible crimes. In Earth, Evan is a footballer on legal proceedings as an accomplice to rape. In Fire, the adult Freya juggles retaliation with her work as a doctor. In Air, a father travels to a memorial service with his adolescent son, and wonders how much to disclose about his family's past. Suffering is layered with trauma as damaged survivors seem fated to encounter each other repeatedly for all time Interconnected Stories Relationships multiply. We originally see Evan as a boy trying to flee the island of Water. His trial's group contains the Freya who shows up again in Fire. Aaron, the father from Air, partners with Freya and has a child with Willow's daughter. Supporting characters from one story reappear in cottages, taverns or legal settings in another. These narrative elements may sound complex, but the author understands how to drive a narrative – his earlier acclaimed Holocaust drama has sold numerous units, and he has been translated into numerous languages. His businesslike prose bristles with suspenseful hooks: "in the end, a doctor in the burns unit should understand more than to toy with fire"; "the initial action I do when I reach the island is modify my name". Personality Portrayal and Storytelling Strength Characters are sketched in concise, powerful lines: the caring Nigerian priest, the troubled pub landlord, the daughter at conflict with her mother. Some scenes echo with sad power or observational humour: a boy is punched by his father after wetting himself at a football match; a prejudiced island mother and her Dublin-raised neighbour exchange barbs over cups of watery tea. The author's talent of carrying you completely into each narrative gives the return of a character or plot strand from an previous story a authentic frisson, for the initial several times at least. Yet the aggregate effect of it all is dulling, and at times nearly comic: suffering is layered with suffering, chance on accident in a grim farce in which hurt survivors seem destined to meet each other continuously for all time. Conceptual Complexity and Final Assessment If this sounds less like life and more like uncertainty, that is aspect of the author's point. These damaged people are weighed down by the crimes they have experienced, caught in cycles of thought and behavior that agitate and plunge and may in turn harm others. The author has discussed about the impact of his personal experiences of mistreatment and he depicts with compassion the way his characters traverse this dangerous landscape, extending for solutions – solitude, icy sea dips, reconciliation or refreshing honesty – that might bring illumination. The book's "fundamental" concept isn't particularly instructive, while the quick pace means the exploration of gender dynamics or online networks is primarily surface-level. But while The Elements is a imperfect work, it's also a thoroughly engaging, trauma-oriented saga: a welcome rebuttal to the common preoccupation on detectives and offenders. The author illustrates how trauma can run through lives and generations, and how time and care can quieten its reverberations.