Evan Keogh is a professional soccer player in England, on trial with one of his teammates in a sexual assault case that sounds all too familiar. Which decisions did he make to get himself into this situation, and is he innocent of the crimes he’s being accused of?

Water

We briefly met Evan Keogh in the novella ‘water’, the first in this quartet of books called ‘The elements’ from John Boyne. He’s a reluctant footballer, following his fathers dream more than his own, and is more interested in art but he’s not as talented with his brushes as he is with his boots.

As the first looked at the main characters relationship with water, now it’s earth.

“I couldn’t allow myself to return to the island. Not because I was afraid to admit failure but because I didn’t want to grow old with the eternal mud beneath my fingernails, dirt that would remain there stubbornly, no matter how hard I tried to wash it away.”

The story is about he got here, from the boat leaving the small island to the dock of a London court room. He’s far from his family roots, so how did he build this life for himself, and at what cost?

What exactly is it that we want out of life for ourselves, and if we lose touch with our roots and each other, living disconnected lives, do we even know what happiness looks like?

Storytelling

As usual Boyne crafts an engaging story that keeps you guessing throughout. He’s become one of my favourite storytellers, Irish or otherwise, because the characters are flawed but likeable, struggling with something in their lives. He builds a compelling story around this and it feels very natural, unforced. I believe his characters and stories.

My emotions varied in this one, and Boyne is a master at manipulating them. At times I moved from sympathy to anger, and the subject matter is at times quite provocative. But that’s good - you always want to be challenged, and the subject matter and dilemma feels modern.

In saying that, I’m not sure if I believed the explanation for how Evan Keogh became a professional footballer. It seemed to happen too quickly, but I just went with it, as I trust Boyne. Maybe I’ve spent too much of my life paying attention to English soccer to imagine it could happen so quickly, but sure why not.

Summary

Just like in the first installment, it’s hard to believe that Boyne puts it all together in less than 200 pages. Another propulsive read, with fluid prose and compelling characters trying to locate their moral compass. You could easily gulp this down in one go, and there’s not many better in the business than Boyne at the moment. This is another cracking read.

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176 pages, May 5, 2024 by Random House

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for the ARC