🔗 Share this article A New Collection Analysis: Interconnected Narratives of Suffering Twelve-year-old Freya stays with her preoccupied mother in Cornwall when she encounters teenage twins. "The only thing better than being aware of a secret," they inform her, "is having one of your own." In the weeks that follow, they sexually assault her, then bury her alive, combination of anxiety and irritation flitting across their faces as they ultimately release her from her makeshift coffin. This might have stood as the shocking main event of a novel, but it's only one of multiple awful events in The Elements, which collects four short novels – released individually between 2023 and 2025 – in which characters confront past trauma and try to discover peace in the current moment. Debated Context and Subject Exploration The book's publication has been clouded by the addition of Earth, the subsequent novella, on the preliminary list for a notable LGBTQ+ writing prize. In August, the majority other candidates dropped out in protest at the author's controversial views – and this year's prize has now been called off. Discussion of gender identity issues is missing from The Elements, although the author explores plenty of significant issues. Anti-gay prejudice, the influence of mainstream and online outlets, parental neglect and abuse are all explored. Four Stories of Pain In Water, a mourning woman named Willow transfers to a secluded Irish island after her husband is jailed for horrific crimes. In Earth, Evan is a soccer player on court case as an accessory to rape. In Fire, the grown-up Freya balances revenge with her work as a surgeon. In Air, a parent flies to a burial with his teenage son, and ponders how much to reveal about his family's past. Pain is layered with pain as damaged survivors seem destined to encounter each other again and again for eternity Interconnected Stories Relationships multiply. We originally see Evan as a boy trying to leave the island of Water. His trial's group 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 story return in cottages, pubs or courtrooms in another. These plot threads may sound complex, but the author understands how to drive a narrative – his previous acclaimed Holocaust drama has sold many copies, and he has been rendered into numerous languages. His businesslike prose sparkles with suspenseful hooks: "ultimately, a doctor in the burns unit should understand more than to experiment with fire"; "the initial action I do when I arrive on the island is alter my name". Character Portrayal and Storytelling Strength Characters are portrayed in concise, impactful lines: the empathetic Nigerian priest, the troubled pub landlord, the daughter at struggle with her mother. Some scenes resonate with melancholy power or perceptive 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 transporting you completely into each narrative gives the return of a character or plot strand from an previous story a genuine frisson, for the initial several times at least. Yet the cumulative effect of it all is desensitizing, and at times nearly comic: pain is piled on suffering, chance on accident in a bleak farce in which hurt survivors seem doomed to encounter each other continuously for eternity. Thematic Complexity and Final Evaluation If this sounds less like life and more like purgatory, that is aspect of the author's message. These damaged people are oppressed by the crimes they have suffered, stuck in routines of thought and behavior that churn and spiral and may in turn harm others. The author has spoken about the impact of his own experiences of harm and he depicts with sympathy the way his characters negotiate this risky landscape, reaching out for remedies – seclusion, cold ocean swims, reconciliation or refreshing honesty – that might provide clarity. The book's "basic" structure isn't extremely informative, while the quick pace means the discussion of social issues or digital platforms is mostly surface-level. But while The Elements is a flawed work, it's also a thoroughly readable, survivor-centered epic: a appreciated response to the typical fixation on detectives and criminals. The author shows how trauma can affect lives and generations, and how years and care can quieten its aftereffects.