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Twelve-year-old Freya stays with her distracted mother in Cornwall when she meets 14-year-old twins. "The only thing better than being aware of a secret," they inform her, "is having one of your own." In the time that come after, they sexually assault her, then inter her while living, blend of nervousness and annoyance darting across their faces as they finally free her from her temporary coffin.

This might have stood as the disturbing main event of a novel, but it's only one of multiple horrific events in The Elements, which collects four short novels – published distinctly between 2023 and 2025 – in which characters navigate past trauma and try to discover peace in the present moment.

Disputed Context and Subject Exploration

The book's publication has been overshadowed by the presence of Earth, the subsequent novella, on the candidate list for a prominent LGBTQ+ writing prize. In August, nearly all other nominees pulled out in objection at the author's controversial views – and this year's prize has now been called off.

Conversation of gender identity issues is not present from The Elements, although the author explores plenty of major issues. Homophobia, the influence of traditional and social media, caregiver abandonment and abuse are all investigated.

Distinct Stories of Trauma

• In Water, a sorrowful woman named Willow relocates to a secluded Irish island after her husband is jailed for awful crimes.
• In Earth, Evan is a soccer player on trial as an participant to rape.
• In Fire, the grown-up Freya juggles vengeance with her work as a doctor.
• In Air, a parent flies to a burial with his teenage son, and wonders how much to disclose about his family's past.

Trauma is piled on trauma as damaged survivors seem destined to meet each other continuously for eternity

Related Narratives

Relationships proliferate. We first meet Evan as a boy trying to escape the island of Water. His trial's group contains the Freya who returns in Fire. Aaron, the father from Air, collaborates with Freya and has a child with Willow's daughter. Secondary characters from one story return in homes, pubs or courtrooms in another.

These storylines may sound tangled, but the author is skilled at how to power a narrative – his previous popular Holocaust drama has sold numerous units, and he has been translated into many languages. His direct prose shines with suspenseful hooks: "ultimately, a doctor in the burns unit should be wiser than to play with fire"; "the first thing I do when I arrive on the island is alter my name".

Personality Development and Storytelling Strength

Characters are portrayed in succinct, impactful lines: the caring Nigerian priest, the troubled pub landlord, the daughter at struggle with her mother. Some scenes ring with tragic power or insightful humour: a boy is punched by his father after having an accident at a football match; a narrow-minded island mother and her Dublin-raised neighbour swap barbs over cups of diluted tea.

The author's ability of carrying you completely into each narrative gives the reappearance of a character or plot strand from an prior story a real excitement, for the first few times at least. Yet the cumulative effect of it all is desensitizing, and at times nearly comic: trauma is piled on trauma, accident on chance in a grim farce in which wounded survivors seem destined to bump into each other continuously for forever.

Thematic Complexity and Final Evaluation

If this sounds different from life and resembling purgatory, that is element of the author's point. These damaged people are weighed down by the crimes they have suffered, stuck in patterns of thought and behavior that stir and plunge and may in turn damage others. The author has spoken about the influence of his own experiences of harm and he depicts with compassion the way his cast navigate this risky landscape, extending for solutions – seclusion, icy sea dips, resolution or invigorating honesty – that might bring illumination.

The book's "fundamental" framing isn't extremely informative, while the brisk pace means the discussion of gender dynamics or digital platforms is mainly surface-level. But while The Elements is a flawed work, it's also a completely readable, victim-focused epic: a valued riposte to the common obsession on detectives and criminals. The author illustrates how pain can run through lives and generations, and how years and care can silence its reverberations.