THE ELEMENTS
by John Boyne
Boyne’s ambitious novel powerfully explores the devastation of sexual abuse from four different perspectives.
“The elements—water, earth, fire, air—are our greatest friends, our animators. They feed us, warm us, give us life, and yet conspire to kill us at every juncture,” says Vanessa Carvin, who has fled to a remote island off the west coast of Ireland in the wake of a sex abuse scandal that led to her husband’s imprisonment, her alienation from her daughter, and public condemnation. Troubled Evan Keough, with his mother’s help, escapes this same island in the hopes of making a new life as a painter in England but instead finds himself on trial as an accomplice in the rape of a young woman. A juror on that trial, Dr. Freya Petrus, is a successful burn surgeon who deals with her childhood trauma by inflicting her pain on new victims. And her former resident–turned–child psychologist, Aaron Umber, seeks to heal his own damaged psyche by embarking on a life-changing journey back to Ireland with his teenage son. Originally published in the U.K. as separate novellas (Water, Earth, Fire, Air), these four interconnected stories pack a wallop when combined in one volume. If the format at times feels too tidy and contrived (especially in the final section), it doesn’t lessen the emotional impact of deeply wounded characters struggling to overcome their guilt and find redemption in the wake of catastrophic trauma.
Book clubs will find plenty to discuss in this meaty and challenging read.