🔗 Share this article John Boyne's Latest Review: Interwoven Narratives of Pain Twelve-year-old Freya is visiting her self-absorbed mother in Cornwall when she meets 14-year-old twins. "The only thing better than being aware of a secret," they tell her, "is having one of your own." In the time that ensue, they violate her, then entomb her breathing, a mix of unease and irritation passing across their faces as they eventually liberate her from her improvised coffin. This might have stood as the disturbing main event of a novel, but it's only one of many horrific events in The Elements, which gathers four novelettes – released individually between 2023 and 2025 – in which characters confront past trauma and try to discover peace in the present moment. Disputed Context and Subject Exploration The book's issuance has been clouded by the inclusion of Earth, the subsequent novella, on the longlist for a significant LGBTQ+ writing prize. In August, most other contenders withdrew in protest at the author's controversial views – and this year's prize has now been terminated. Discussion of LGBTQ+ matters is not present from The Elements, although the author explores plenty of significant issues. LGBTQ+ discrimination, the impact of traditional and social media, family disregard and assault are all examined. Four Accounts of Trauma In Water, a grieving woman named Willow transfers to a remote Irish island after her husband is imprisoned for horrific crimes. In Earth, Evan is a athlete on legal proceedings as an accomplice to rape. In Fire, the adult Freya juggles revenge with her work as a medical professional. In Air, a father flies to a burial with his young son, and considers how much to reveal about his family's past. Trauma is layered with suffering as wounded survivors seem doomed to encounter each other continuously for eternity Interconnected Accounts Links proliferate. We initially encounter Evan as a boy trying to leave the island of Water. His trial's group contains the Freya who reappears in Fire. Aaron, the father from Air, partners with Freya and has a child with Willow's daughter. Minor characters from one narrative return in houses, taverns or courtrooms in another. These storylines may sound complex, but the author understands how to propel a narrative – his previous popular Holocaust drama has sold millions, and he has been converted into many languages. His straightforward prose shines with gripping hooks: "ultimately, a doctor in the burns unit should be wiser than to play with fire"; "the first thing I do when I reach the island is modify my name". Character Development and Narrative Strength Characters are portrayed in brief, effective lines: the caring Nigerian priest, the troubled pub landlord, the daughter at conflict with her mother. Some scenes resonate with sad power or perceptive humour: a boy is hit by his father after urinating at a football match; a narrow-minded island mother and her Dublin-raised neighbour swap insults over cups of weak tea. The author's talent of carrying you wholeheartedly into each narrative gives the comeback of a character or plot strand from an prior story a genuine frisson, for the first few times at least. Yet the cumulative effect of it all is desensitizing, and at times almost comic: pain is piled on pain, accident on accident in a bleak farce in which hurt survivors seem destined to encounter each other continuously for eternity. Thematic Complexity and Concluding Assessment If this sounds different from life and more like limbo, that is element of the author's message. These damaged people are weighed down by the crimes they have experienced, caught in patterns of thought and behavior that churn and spiral and may in turn harm others. The author has discussed about the effect of his own experiences of harm and he portrays with compassion the way his characters traverse this perilous landscape, reaching out for remedies – seclusion, icy sea dips, resolution or invigorating honesty – that might provide clarity. The book's "fundamental" structure isn't terribly informative, while the rapid pace means the discussion of social issues or social media is primarily shallow. But while The Elements is a flawed work, it's also a thoroughly readable, trauma-oriented saga: a welcome rebuttal to the common obsession on authorities and criminals. The author shows how suffering can affect lives and generations, and how duration and compassion can silence its aftereffects.