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Young Freya stays with her self-absorbed mother in Cornwall when she comes across 14-year-old twins. "Nothing better than knowing a secret," they advise her, "comes from possessing one of your own." In the days that ensue, they sexually assault her, then inter her while living, blend of unease and annoyance flitting across their faces as they finally liberate her from her improvised coffin.

This may have functioned as the disturbing main event of a novel, but it's just one of many awful events in The Elements, which collects four novelettes – published individually between 2023 and 2025 – in which characters negotiate historical pain and try to achieve peace in the contemporary moment.

Disputed Context and Thematic Exploration

The book's issuance has been clouded by the presence of Earth, the second novella, on the longlist for a prominent 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 called off.

Discussion of trans rights is absent from The Elements, although the author addresses plenty of significant issues. Anti-gay prejudice, the influence of mainstream and online outlets, caregiver abandonment and abuse are all explored.

Distinct Accounts of Suffering

• In Water, a mourning woman named Willow relocates to a secluded Irish island after her husband is imprisoned for awful crimes.
• In Earth, Evan is a footballer on trial as an participant to rape.
• In Fire, the mature Freya juggles revenge with her work as a surgeon.
• In Air, a parent journeys to a memorial service with his adolescent son, and wonders how much to reveal about his family's background.

Suffering is accumulated upon suffering as damaged survivors seem doomed to bump into each other again and again for all time

Interconnected Narratives

Connections abound. We initially encounter Evan as a boy trying to flee the island of Water. His trial's group contains the Freya who shows up again in Fire. Aaron, the father from Air, partners with Freya and has a child with Willow's daughter. Secondary characters from one story return in cottages, bars or legal settings in another.

These storylines may sound complex, but the author understands how to propel a narrative – his previous popular Holocaust drama has sold many copies, and he has been converted into dozens languages. His straightforward prose sparkles with thriller-ish hooks: "ultimately, a doctor in the burns unit should be wiser than to toy with fire"; "the first thing I do when I come to the island is change my name".

Character Development and Narrative Power

Characters are portrayed in concise, effective lines: the caring Nigerian priest, the troubled pub landlord, the daughter at conflict with her mother. Some scenes ring with melancholy power or insightful humour: a boy is punched by his father after wetting himself at a football match; a biased island mother and her Dublin-raised neighbour trade jabs over cups of watery tea.

The author's ability of transporting you fully into each narrative gives the reappearance of a character or plot strand from an prior story a authentic thrill, for the opening times at least. Yet the cumulative effect of it all is dulling, and at times nearly comic: suffering is piled on pain, chance on chance in a bleak farce in which hurt survivors seem destined to bump into each other again and again for all time.

Thematic Depth and Final Assessment

If this sounds not exactly life and more like uncertainty, that is element of the author's message. These wounded people are weighed down by the crimes they have endured, trapped in patterns of thought and behavior that churn and spiral and may in turn hurt others. The author has spoken about the effect of his individual experiences of abuse and he describes with compassion the way his cast traverse this dangerous landscape, extending for solutions – solitude, icy sea dips, forgiveness or refreshing honesty – that might let light in.

The book's "fundamental" structure isn't terribly informative, while the rapid pace means the discussion of sexual politics or online networks is primarily superficial. But while The Elements is a flawed work, it's also a thoroughly engaging, trauma-oriented epic: a valued rebuttal to the common preoccupation on investigators and criminals. The author illustrates how suffering can run through lives and generations, and how duration and tenderness can quieten its reverberations.