The Elements (The Elements, #1-4)

by John Boyne

exercise is good for one’s mental health, and mine is in a low place.

We only have our children with us for a short time. It seems churlish not to give them the things they ask for, particularly when they’re asking for something that might love them unconditionally.

she’s young and doesn’t yet recognize that life can get in the way of principles.

In general, I don’t like talking about books. I prefer simply to read them.

Trust in the Lord, Willow. He trusts in you.”

it is not a natural silence. It is the sound of someone trying not to make a sound,

water is the cruelest of all the elements and will swallow up anyone who challenges it.

there is no word to define a parent who loses a child. The language is missing a noun. Perhaps because it is so unnatural.

happy to see the two people she loved the most are at peace with each other. Or are at the beginnings of a peace anyway, which is almost the same thing.

I think, sometimes, there are people who are destined never to have anyone fall in love with them. It doesn’t matter what they look like, how they behave, how much money they have, how much kindness exists in their heart. The love of another person is simply never going to be theirs. There’s some aspect of them, something inherent, something indefinable, that makes people turn away. And I think I’m one of those people.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, the village in Anglesey

I was there in 2024!!!!!

I simply nod and mentally record the moment, which I know I will relive many times in the future.

I can see the gratitude on her face. It offers a fine counterbalance to the grief.”