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Twelve-year-old Freya is visiting her preoccupied mother in Cornwall when she meets teenage twins. "Nothing better than knowing a secret," they inform her, "is having one of your own." In the weeks that come after, they sexually assault her, then entomb her breathing, combination of nervousness and frustration flitting across their faces as they ultimately free her from her makeshift coffin.

This could have served as the jarring centrepiece of a novel, but it's only one of numerous awful events in The Elements, which collects four novellas – released separately between 2023 and 2025 – in which characters navigate historical pain and try to find peace in the contemporary moment.

Debated Context and Thematic Exploration

The book's issuance has been clouded by the presence of Earth, the subsequent novella, on the candidate list for a prominent LGBTQ+ writing prize. In August, the majority other candidates pulled out in objection at the author's gender-critical views – and this year's prize has now been called off.

Discussion of trans rights is missing from The Elements, although the author addresses plenty of major issues. Homophobia, the influence of conventional and digital platforms, family disregard and assault are all explored.

Four Stories of Suffering

• In Water, a grieving woman named Willow moves to a secluded Irish island after her husband is imprisoned for horrific crimes.
• In Earth, Evan is a athlete on court case as an participant to rape.
• In Fire, the mature Freya juggles retaliation with her work as a medical professional.
• In Air, a parent journeys to a burial with his young son, and considers how much to divulge about his family's history.

Pain is layered with pain as damaged survivors seem fated to encounter each other continuously for all time

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Links abound. We initially encounter Evan as a boy trying to flee the island of Water. His trial's group contains the Freya who returns in Fire. Aaron, the father from Air, collaborates with Freya and has a child with Willow's daughter. Secondary characters from one narrative return in homes, bars or legal settings in another.

These narrative elements may sound complex, but the author knows how to propel a narrative – his previous successful Holocaust drama has sold many copies, and he has been translated into numerous languages. His direct prose bristles with thriller-ish hooks: "after all, a doctor in the burns unit should understand more than to experiment with fire"; "the primary step I do when I arrive on the island is modify my name".

Character Portrayal and Narrative Strength

Characters are portrayed in concise, impactful lines: the compassionate 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 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 watery tea.

The author's ability of bringing you completely into each narrative gives the return of a character or plot strand from an earlier story a authentic excitement, for the first few times at least. Yet the cumulative effect of it all is dulling, and at times practically comic: suffering is piled on pain, chance on coincidence in a grim farce in which hurt survivors seem doomed to bump into each other again and again for all time.

Thematic Depth and Final Evaluation

If this sounds less like life and more like uncertainty, that is part of the author's thesis. These hurt people are burdened by the crimes they have suffered, stuck in patterns of thought and behavior that agitate and descend and may in turn harm others. The author has discussed about the effect of his individual experiences of abuse and he describes with understanding the way his characters negotiate this dangerous landscape, extending for remedies – solitude, icy sea dips, resolution or bracing honesty – that might bring illumination.

The book's "elemental" concept isn't extremely instructive, while the quick pace means the examination of gender dynamics or social media is mostly surface-level. But while The Elements is a imperfect work, it's also a completely accessible, victim-focused epic: a valued rebuttal to the usual fixation on authorities and perpetrators. The author shows how suffering can affect lives and generations, and how duration and compassion can soften its echoes.