From bestselling author John Boyne comes a gripping and profound exploration of responsibility, guilt, blame, trauma, and our capacity for redemption. 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.

Details

ISBN13: 9780857528889
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 512
Edition:
Publication Date: 09 Sep 2025
Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
Publication City, Country: London,United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 23.5(H)x15.5(L)x3.9(W)615
Weight (gm): 615

Author Biography

John Boyne is the author of nineteen novels for adults, six for younger readers, a picture book and a collection of short stories. His 2006 novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and has been adapted for cinema, theatre, ballet, and opera. His many international bestsellers include The Heart's Invisible Furies and A Ladder to the Sky. He has won four Irish Book Awards, including Author of the Year in 2022, along with a host of other international literary prizes. His novels are published in sixty languages. Twitter- @JohnBoyneBooks Instagram- @JohnBoyneAuthor

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