🔗 Share this article A New Collection Review: Interwoven Tales of Trauma Young Freya stays with her preoccupied mother in Cornwall when she comes across teenage twins. "The only thing better than being aware of a secret," they tell her, "comes from possessing one of your own." In the time that come after, they will rape her, then bury her alive, blend of nervousness and irritation passing across their faces as they eventually release her from her temporary coffin. This could have served as the jarring main event of a novel, but it's merely a single of many terrible events in The Elements, which collects four short novels – issued individually between 2023 and 2025 – in which characters navigate historical pain and try to discover peace in the contemporary moment. Disputed Context and Thematic Exploration The book's publication has been overshadowed by the presence of Earth, the subsequent novella, on the preliminary list for a notable LGBTQ+ writing prize. In August, most other nominees pulled out in protest at the author's controversial views – and this year's prize has now been cancelled. Discussion of gender identity issues is missing from The Elements, although the author touches on plenty of significant issues. LGBTQ+ discrimination, the influence of conventional and digital platforms, parental neglect and assault are all explored. Distinct Accounts of Pain In Water, a sorrowful woman named Willow transfers to a isolated Irish island after her husband is imprisoned for terrible crimes. In Earth, Evan is a footballer on court case as an accomplice to rape. In Fire, the grown-up Freya juggles revenge with her work as a surgeon. In Air, a father flies to a burial with his teenage son, and wonders how much to disclose about his family's background. Trauma is accumulated upon suffering as hurt survivors seem doomed to meet each other again and again for all time Related Accounts Links abound. We initially encounter Evan as a boy trying to leave the island of Water. His trial's jury contains the Freya who reappears in Fire. Aaron, the father from Air, collaborates with Freya and has a child with Willow's daughter. Minor characters from one account return in homes, taverns or courtrooms in another. These storylines may sound complicated, but the author knows how to propel a narrative – his prior successful Holocaust drama has sold millions, and he has been translated into many languages. His direct prose shines with suspenseful hooks: "ultimately, a doctor in the burns unit should be wiser than to toy with fire"; "the initial action I do when I arrive on the island is alter my name". Character Portrayal and Narrative Power Characters are drawn in succinct, impactful lines: the compassionate Nigerian priest, the troubled pub landlord, the daughter at struggle with her mother. Some scenes echo with tragic power or observational humour: a boy is struck by his father after urinating 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 bringing you completely into each narrative gives the return of a character or plot strand from an earlier story a authentic frisson, for the opening times at least. Yet the aggregate effect of it all is desensitizing, and at times practically comic: pain is layered with pain, coincidence on accident in a grim farce in which damaged survivors seem doomed to encounter each other repeatedly for eternity. Thematic Complexity and Concluding Evaluation If this sounds different from life and resembling uncertainty, that is aspect of the author's point. These wounded people are weighed down by the crimes they have experienced, trapped in routines of thought and behavior that agitate and descend and may in turn hurt others. The author has spoken about the impact of his personal experiences of abuse and he portrays with understanding the way his ensemble navigate this perilous landscape, striving for remedies – solitude, icy sea dips, reconciliation or bracing honesty – that might provide clarity. The book's "fundamental" framing isn't particularly informative, while the rapid pace means the examination of sexual politics or social media is mostly shallow. But while The Elements is a flawed work, it's also a completely readable, trauma-oriented epic: a welcome rebuttal to the common preoccupation on investigators and offenders. The author illustrates how trauma can permeate lives and generations, and how duration and compassion can quieten its echoes.