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Young Freya spends time with her self-absorbed mother in Cornwall when she comes across teenage twins. "The only thing better than being aware of a secret," they advise her, "comes from possessing one of your own." In the days that ensue, they sexually assault her, then bury her alive, combination of unease and annoyance flitting across their faces as they finally release her from her temporary coffin.

This might have stood as the shocking focal point of a novel, but it's only one of numerous awful events in The Elements, which gathers four short novels – issued individually between 2023 and 2025 – in which characters negotiate historical pain and try to discover peace in the present moment.

Controversial Context and Thematic Exploration

The book's issuance has been overshadowed by the addition of Earth, the second novella, on the candidate list for a prominent LGBTQ+ writing prize. In August, most other nominees pulled out in objection at the author's gender-critical views – and this year's prize has now been cancelled.

Debate of gender identity issues is absent from The Elements, although the author explores plenty of big issues. Anti-gay prejudice, the influence of mainstream and online outlets, family disregard and assault are all explored.

Four Accounts of Trauma

• In Water, a mourning woman named Willow transfers to a secluded Irish island after her husband is imprisoned for terrible crimes.
• In Earth, Evan is a athlete on court case as an participant to rape.
• In Fire, the mature Freya manages retaliation with her work as a medical professional.
• In Air, a father journeys to a memorial service with his young son, and wonders how much to disclose about his family's history.

Suffering is accumulated upon suffering as hurt survivors seem fated to meet each other continuously for all time

Interconnected Narratives

Connections abound. We originally see Evan as a boy trying to flee the island of Water. His trial's panel contains the Freya who shows up again in Fire. Aaron, the father from Air, works with Freya and has a child with Willow's daughter. Supporting characters from one narrative reappear in houses, bars or courtrooms in another.

These narrative elements may sound complicated, but the author understands how to drive a narrative – his previous acclaimed Holocaust drama has sold many copies, and he has been rendered into dozens languages. His direct prose shines with gripping hooks: "in the end, a doctor in the burns unit should know better than to experiment with fire"; "the first thing I do when I arrive on the island is alter my name".

Personality Portrayal and Narrative Power

Characters are portrayed in brief, impactful lines: the compassionate Nigerian priest, the disturbed pub landlord, the daughter at conflict with her mother. Some scenes echo with tragic power or insightful humour: a boy is struck by his father after urinating at a football match; a biased island mother and her Dublin-raised neighbour exchange insults over cups of watery tea.

The author's talent of carrying you completely into each narrative gives the comeback of a character or plot strand from an earlier story a real frisson, for the first few times at least. Yet the collective effect of it all is dulling, and at times almost comic: pain is layered with suffering, chance on coincidence in a grim farce in which damaged survivors seem fated to encounter each other repeatedly for eternity.

Conceptual Complexity and Final Evaluation

If this sounds not exactly life and closer to uncertainty, that is aspect of the author's point. These damaged people are weighed down by the crimes they have endured, trapped in patterns of thought and behavior that stir and descend and may in turn hurt others. The author has spoken about the impact of his individual experiences of mistreatment and he describes with understanding the way his characters navigate this dangerous landscape, reaching out for remedies – isolation, frigid water immersion, reconciliation or bracing honesty – that might let light in.

The book's "basic" structure isn't extremely informative, while the quick pace means the exploration of sexual politics or digital platforms is primarily shallow. But while The Elements is a defective work, it's also a completely accessible, survivor-centered epic: a appreciated riposte to the common preoccupation on detectives and offenders. The author demonstrates how suffering can affect lives and generations, and how duration and care can quieten its echoes.