The Elements
From the Sunday Times bestselling author
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- USD 14.99
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- USD 14.99
Publisher Description
‘An epic.... Impactful and provocative’ The New York Times
‘An almost note-perfect piece of first-person storytelling’ Guardian
‘Subtle, intelligent and humane’ Sunday Telegraph
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John Boyne's acclaimed quartet of Water, Earth, Fire and Air come together at last.
Human life is governed by the elements – water, earth, fire and air. They are fundamental to our existence. They sustain us, but they also challenge us.
In The Elements, John Boyne has created a vivid kaleidoscope to reflect that contradiction: a quartet of intertwined narratives, each providing a different perspective on cause and effect from the points of view of the enabler, the accomplice, the perpetrator and the victim.
From a mother on the run from her past, to a young football star on trial, a successful surgeon grappling with childhood trauma, and finally a father on a transformative journey with his son, the four strands weave together to form a tapestry of intersecting lives.
Boyne’s most ambitious work yet, The Elements is both an engrossing drama and a moving examination of the fault lines inherent to human experience. In crisp, spellbinding prose, he navigates a complex subject with extraordinary empathy and unflinching honesty, at every step challenging us to confront our own perceptions of who we are and what made us that way.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Four interconnected narratives comprise the dramatic if heavy-handed latest from Boyne (All the Broken Places), about the generational impact of abuse and the blurred lines between perpetrator and victim. "Water" follows Vanessa Carvin, 52, in the aftermath of her husband Brendan's conviction for raping eight girls. Accused of being complicit in the crimes, she retreats to an island off the coast of Ireland. "Earth" centers on rising soccer star Evan Keogh's trial for being an accessory to rape. As the courtroom drama unfolds, Boyne examines a troubling connection between Evan and Brendan. Boyne is at his best in the depiction of Freya Petrus, the protagonist of "Fire." Now a burn specialist, Freya copes with her childhood rape in heinous ways that would be a spoiler to reveal. "Air," the weakest link, follows Vanessa's former son-in-law Aaron Umber, a child psychologist, on a plane trip with his son, Emmet, during which Boyne hints that a great mystery will be revealed about Emmet's estrangement from his mother and the impact of his parents' childhood traumas on their dysfunctional family. Unfortunately, there's not much in the way of surprise. The author has a knack for crafting strong characters and evoking heavy emotions, but the novel's reliance on the symbolism of the four elements muddies rather than clarifies its insights into the nature of abuse. It's a mixed bag.
