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Young Freya spends time with her self-absorbed mother in Cornwall when she encounters teenage 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 sexually assault her, then entomb her breathing, combination of nervousness and irritation flitting across their faces as they eventually free her from her improvised coffin.

This could have served as the jarring focal point of a novel, but it's only one of numerous horrific events in The Elements, which collects four novelettes – released separately between 2023 and 2025 – in which characters negotiate previous suffering and try to find peace in the contemporary moment.

Disputed Context and Thematic Exploration

The book's publication has been overshadowed by the addition of Earth, the subsequent novella, on the preliminary list for a significant LGBTQ+ writing prize. In August, most other contenders dropped out in protest 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 explores plenty of major issues. LGBTQ+ discrimination, the influence of mainstream and online outlets, caregiver abandonment and assault are all explored.

Four Stories of Trauma

• In Water, a grieving woman named Willow moves to a remote Irish island after her husband is incarcerated for terrible crimes.
• In Earth, Evan is a footballer on trial as an accessory to rape.
• In Fire, the grown-up Freya balances vengeance with her work as a doctor.
• In Air, a dad journeys to a memorial service with his young son, and considers how much to divulge about his family's history.

Suffering is piled on suffering as hurt survivors seem destined to meet each other repeatedly for eternity

Linked Narratives

Connections abound. We initially encounter 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 reappear in houses, bars or courtrooms in another.

These storylines may sound complicated, but the author is skilled at how to propel a narrative – his prior acclaimed Holocaust drama has sold numerous units, and he has been translated into numerous languages. His businesslike prose bristles with thriller-ish hooks: "in the end, a doctor in the burns unit should know better than to experiment with fire"; "the primary step I do when I come to the island is modify my name".

Personality Development and Narrative Power

Characters are drawn in succinct, powerful lines: the compassionate Nigerian priest, the troubled pub landlord, the daughter at war with her mother. Some scenes resonate with melancholy power or perceptive humour: a boy is punched by his father after urinating at a football match; a narrow-minded island mother and her Dublin-raised neighbour swap jabs over cups of diluted tea.

The author's knack of bringing you completely into each narrative gives the reappearance of a character or plot strand from an earlier story a genuine excitement, for the opening times at least. Yet the cumulative effect of it all is dulling, and at times practically comic: suffering is layered with pain, chance on chance in a bleak farce in which hurt survivors seem fated to bump into each other again and again for all time.

Thematic Complexity and Concluding Evaluation

If this sounds different from life and closer to purgatory, that is part of the author's thesis. These damaged people are oppressed by the crimes they have suffered, stuck in routines of thought and behavior that churn and plunge and may in turn hurt others. The author has discussed about the effect of his personal experiences of harm and he portrays with sympathy the way his cast negotiate this perilous landscape, extending for solutions – solitude, cold ocean swims, forgiveness or refreshing honesty – that might bring illumination.

The book's "elemental" concept isn't particularly informative, while the quick pace means the examination of social issues or digital platforms is primarily surface-level. But while The Elements is a flawed work, it's also a entirely engaging, survivor-centered epic: a valued rebuttal to the usual obsession on detectives and criminals. The author illustrates how suffering can permeate lives and generations, and how duration and compassion can soften its aftereffects.