The Elements Exploration: Interconnected Narratives of Trauma
Young Freya stays with her distracted mother in Cornwall when she comes across teenage twins. "Nothing better than being aware of a secret," they tell her, "is having one of your own." In the time that follow, they sexually assault her, then entomb her breathing, a mix of unease and irritation passing across their faces as they finally release her from her temporary coffin.
This might have stood as the shocking main event of a novel, but it's only one of many awful events in The Elements, which assembles four novelettes – released individually between 2023 and 2025 – in which characters navigate past trauma and try to achieve peace in the present moment.
Controversial Context and Thematic Exploration
The book's publication has been marred by the addition of Earth, the second novella, on the candidate list for a prominent LGBTQ+ writing prize. In August, the majority other candidates withdrew in dissent at the author's gender-critical views – and this year's prize has now been terminated.
Discussion of trans rights is absent from The Elements, although the author touches on plenty of major issues. Anti-gay prejudice, the influence of mainstream and online outlets, family disregard and assault are all explored.
Multiple Narratives of Trauma
- In Water, a mourning woman named Willow relocates to a secluded Irish island after her husband is jailed for terrible crimes.
- In Earth, Evan is a soccer player on legal proceedings as an participant to rape.
- In Fire, the mature Freya balances vengeance with her work as a surgeon.
- In Air, a dad journeys to a memorial service with his young son, and considers how much to reveal about his family's background.
Pain is piled on trauma as damaged survivors seem destined to bump into each other continuously for all time
Linked Stories
Relationships multiply. We initially encounter Evan as a boy trying to leave the island of Water. His trial's panel contains the Freya who reappears in Fire. Aaron, the father from Air, collaborates with Freya and has a child with Willow's daughter. Secondary characters from one account return in cottages, bars or courtrooms in another.
These storylines may sound complicated, but the author knows how to propel a narrative – his earlier successful Holocaust drama has sold many copies, and he has been translated into dozens languages. His direct prose sparkles with suspenseful hooks: "in the end, a doctor in the burns unit should understand more than to toy with fire"; "the first thing I do when I arrive on the island is modify my name".
Personality Portrayal and Narrative Strength
Characters are portrayed in succinct, impactful lines: the empathetic Nigerian priest, the troubled pub landlord, the daughter at struggle with her mother. Some scenes ring with tragic power or insightful humour: a boy is hit 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 weak tea.
The author's talent of transporting you wholeheartedly into each narrative gives the comeback of a character or plot strand from an earlier story a authentic frisson, for the opening times at least. Yet the cumulative effect of it all is dulling, and at times nearly comic: pain is accumulated upon pain, accident on chance in a grim farce in which wounded survivors seem fated to meet each other again and again for all time.
Thematic Complexity and Concluding Evaluation
If this sounds different from life and closer to limbo, that is aspect of the author's message. These hurt people are weighed down by the crimes they have endured, caught in cycles of thought and behavior that stir and plunge and may in turn damage others. The author has discussed about the impact of his individual experiences of mistreatment and he portrays with compassion the way his ensemble negotiate this risky landscape, extending for treatments – isolation, cold ocean swims, reconciliation or bracing honesty – that might bring illumination.
The book's "elemental" concept isn't terribly informative, while the brisk pace means the exploration of gender dynamics or digital platforms is mainly surface-level. But while The Elements is a imperfect work, it's also a completely readable, survivor-centered saga: a welcome riposte to the common preoccupation on investigators and perpetrators. The author illustrates how trauma can permeate lives and generations, and how years and tenderness can quieten its reverberations.
