đŸ”— Share this article John Boyne's Latest Exploration: Interconnected Narratives of Suffering Young Freya is visiting her distracted mother in Cornwall when she meets 14-year-old twins. "Nothing better than knowing a secret," they advise her, "is having one of your own." In the days that ensue, they violate her, then bury her alive, blend of nervousness and irritation flitting across their faces as they finally free her from her temporary coffin. This may have functioned as the shocking focal point of a novel, but it's merely a single of many horrific events in The Elements, which collects four novellas – released distinctly between 2023 and 2025 – in which characters negotiate previous suffering and try to achieve peace in the current moment. Controversial Context and Thematic Exploration The book's release has been clouded by the presence of Earth, the subsequent novella, on the longlist for a significant LGBTQ+ writing prize. In August, nearly all other candidates pulled out in protest at the author's debated views – and this year's prize has now been cancelled. Conversation of LGBTQ+ matters is not present from The Elements, although the author explores plenty of significant issues. Homophobia, the influence of mainstream and online outlets, family disregard and sexual violence are all explored. Four Accounts of Suffering In Water, a sorrowful woman named Willow relocates to a remote 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 grown-up Freya manages revenge with her work as a doctor. In Air, a father travels to a memorial service with his adolescent son, and wonders how much to reveal about his family's background. Pain is accumulated upon pain as hurt survivors seem destined to meet each other continuously for all time Interconnected Narratives Relationships proliferate. We originally see Evan as a boy trying to escape the island of Water. His trial's panel contains the Freya who reappears in Fire. Aaron, the father from Air, partners with Freya and has a child with Willow's daughter. Supporting characters from one narrative return in homes, pubs or courtrooms in another. These storylines may sound tangled, but the author is skilled at how to drive a narrative – his earlier popular Holocaust drama has sold numerous units, and he has been converted into numerous languages. His direct prose bristles with gripping hooks: "ultimately, a doctor in the burns unit should understand more than to experiment with fire"; "the primary step I do when I come to the island is change my name". Character Portrayal and Storytelling Power Characters are sketched in concise, effective lines: the compassionate Nigerian priest, the disturbed pub landlord, the daughter at war with her mother. Some scenes ring with melancholy power or insightful humour: a boy is hit by his father after wetting himself at a football match; a biased island mother and her Dublin-raised neighbour exchange jabs over cups of weak tea. The author's knack of carrying you wholeheartedly into each narrative gives the reappearance of a character or plot strand from an earlier story a authentic excitement, for the initial several times at least. Yet the cumulative effect of it all is numbing, and at times nearly comic: suffering is accumulated upon suffering, accident on accident in a grim farce in which hurt survivors seem doomed to bump into each other repeatedly for forever. Thematic Depth and Final Evaluation If this sounds less like life and resembling limbo, that is element of the author's message. These hurt people are oppressed by the crimes they have experienced, stuck in routines of thought and behavior that stir and descend and may in turn harm others. The author has talked about the influence of his personal experiences of harm and he describes with understanding the way his ensemble negotiate this perilous landscape, striving for treatments – solitude, icy sea dips, resolution or bracing honesty – that might bring illumination. The book's "elemental" framing isn't extremely instructive, while the brisk pace means the examination of gender dynamics or online networks is primarily superficial. But while The Elements is a flawed work, it's also a entirely accessible, survivor-centered epic: a valued response to the common preoccupation on detectives and perpetrators. The author illustrates how suffering can run through lives and generations, and how time and compassion can silence its aftereffects.