🔗 Share this article John Boyne's Latest Review: Interwoven Narratives of Trauma Twelve-year-old Freya spends time with her distracted mother in Cornwall when she comes across teenage twins. "The only thing better than knowing a secret," they tell her, "comes from possessing one of your own." In the time that follow, they sexually assault her, then entomb her breathing, combination of anxiety and annoyance flitting across their faces as they finally liberate her from her makeshift coffin. This might have stood as the shocking centrepiece of a novel, but it's only one of multiple horrific events in The Elements, which collects four novelettes – published separately between 2023 and 2025 – in which characters confront historical pain and try to discover peace in the current moment. Debated Context and Thematic Exploration The book's issuance has been marred by the addition of Earth, the second novella, on the preliminary list for a prominent LGBTQ+ writing prize. In August, the majority other nominees withdrew in objection at the author's gender-critical views – and this year's prize has now been called off. Debate of trans rights is not present from The Elements, although the author explores plenty of big issues. Anti-gay prejudice, the effect of conventional and digital platforms, family disregard and abuse are all investigated. Four Accounts of Pain In Water, a grieving woman named Willow transfers to a remote Irish island after her husband is jailed for awful crimes. In Earth, Evan is a soccer player on legal proceedings as an accessory to rape. In Fire, the adult Freya manages retaliation with her work as a surgeon. In Air, a parent flies to a burial with his young son, and considers how much to disclose about his family's history. Pain is layered with trauma as hurt survivors seem fated to encounter each other continuously for all time Interconnected Narratives Connections abound. We first meet Evan as a boy trying to leave the island of Water. His trial's jury contains the Freya who reappears in Fire. Aaron, the father from Air, works with Freya and has a child with Willow's daughter. Secondary characters from one narrative return in cottages, bars or judicial venues in another. These narrative elements may sound tangled, but the author understands how to drive a narrative – his earlier popular Holocaust drama has sold many copies, and he has been translated into numerous languages. His straightforward prose bristles with thriller-ish hooks: "after all, a doctor in the burns unit should be wiser than to experiment with fire"; "the first thing I do when I arrive on the island is change my name". Character Portrayal and Storytelling Power Characters are sketched in succinct, powerful lines: the caring Nigerian priest, the troubled pub landlord, the daughter at struggle with her mother. Some scenes ring with sad power or insightful humour: a boy is struck by his father after wetting himself at a football match; a biased island mother and her Dublin-raised neighbour trade jabs over cups of watery tea. The author's knack of carrying you fully into each narrative gives the reappearance of a character or plot strand from an earlier story a authentic frisson, for the first few times at least. Yet the aggregate effect of it all is dulling, and at times practically comic: trauma is layered with pain, chance on accident in a grim farce in which hurt survivors seem doomed to encounter each other again and again for forever. Conceptual Depth and Final Assessment If this sounds different from life and closer to uncertainty, that is aspect of the author's message. These hurt people are weighed down by the crimes they have experienced, trapped in routines of thought and behavior that churn and spiral and may in turn harm others. The author has discussed about the effect of his individual experiences of harm and he describes with compassion the way his characters navigate this risky landscape, reaching out for solutions – isolation, cold ocean swims, reconciliation or invigorating honesty – that might bring illumination. The book's "basic" structure isn't extremely educational, while the rapid pace means the exploration of social issues or online networks is primarily shallow. But while The Elements is a flawed work, it's also a entirely engaging, survivor-centered chronicle: a welcome riposte to the common fixation on detectives and offenders. The author demonstrates how pain can affect lives and generations, and how duration and tenderness can soften its aftereffects.