A New Collection Analysis: Interconnected Narratives of Suffering
Twelve-year-old Freya stays with her self-absorbed mother in Cornwall when she encounters 14-year-old twins. "Nothing better than being aware of a secret," they advise her, "is having one of your own." In the weeks that ensue, they sexually assault her, then bury her alive, combination of anxiety and frustration flitting across their faces as they finally liberate her from her improvised coffin.
This could have served as the disturbing centrepiece of a novel, but it's just one of many awful events in The Elements, which collects four novelettes – issued separately between 2023 and 2025 – in which characters confront past trauma and try to achieve peace in the contemporary moment.
Debated Context and Thematic Exploration
The book's publication has been marred by the addition of Earth, the subsequent novella, on the candidate list for a notable LGBTQ+ writing prize. In August, nearly all other contenders withdrew in protest at the author's controversial views – and this year's prize has now been called off.
Discussion of LGBTQ+ matters is absent from The Elements, although the author explores plenty of major issues. Homophobia, the influence of traditional and social media, parental neglect and abuse are all examined.
Distinct Stories of Suffering
- In Water, a sorrowful woman named Willow moves to a secluded Irish island after her husband is jailed for horrific crimes.
- In Earth, Evan is a footballer on legal proceedings as an participant to rape.
- In Fire, the adult Freya balances retaliation with her work as a doctor.
- In Air, a parent journeys to a burial with his teenage son, and considers how much to divulge about his family's history.
Trauma is piled on pain as hurt survivors seem doomed to meet each other again and again for all time
Related Narratives
Links multiply. We originally see 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, collaborates with Freya and has a child with Willow's daughter. Supporting characters from one story reappear in homes, bars or legal settings in another.
These plot threads may sound complex, but the author is skilled at how to drive a narrative – his prior acclaimed Holocaust drama has sold numerous units, and he has been converted into dozens languages. His businesslike prose shines with thriller-ish 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 modify my name".
Character Development and Narrative Power
Characters are drawn in succinct, impactful lines: the empathetic 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 struck by his father after having an accident at a football match; a prejudiced island mother and her Dublin-raised neighbour swap barbs over cups of watery tea.
The author's ability of carrying you wholeheartedly into each narrative gives the comeback of a character or plot strand from an prior story a real thrill, for the first few times at least. Yet the collective effect of it all is dulling, and at times practically comic: suffering is accumulated upon trauma, chance on chance in a bleak farce in which hurt survivors seem fated to bump into each other continuously for all time.
Thematic Complexity and Final Assessment
If this sounds less like 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 cycles of thought and behavior that stir and spiral and may in turn damage others. The author has discussed about the impact of his personal experiences of mistreatment and he portrays with understanding the way his cast traverse this risky landscape, extending for solutions – solitude, frigid water immersion, forgiveness or refreshing honesty – that might provide clarity.
The book's "basic" concept isn't particularly instructive, while the rapid pace means the exploration of social issues or digital platforms is mostly surface-level. But while The Elements is a defective work, it's also a thoroughly readable, trauma-oriented epic: a appreciated rebuttal to the common preoccupation on authorities and offenders. The author illustrates how pain can permeate lives and generations, and how duration and tenderness can soften its reverberations.