Book review: Novel goes to dark places but there is humour, empathy, and redemption

'Air' is testament to John Boyne’s strong storytelling talent. He packs a lot in, given that the book is only 166 pages long

The premise of taking time to reflect while 30,000 feet in the air is explored in John Boyne’s compelling latest novel, ‘Air’. The final book in the Elements quartet, it works well as a standalone tale too.

• Air 
• John Boyne 
• Doubleday, €18 

The final novel in the quartet of books from the author’s Elements series works well as a standalone tale, even though the stories, which deal with abuse, are interlinked.

This novel is testament to John Boyne’s strong storytelling talent. He packs a lot in, given that the book is only 166 pages long. 

From maternal abandonment to the rape of a 14-year-old boy by an older woman, not to mention a litany of sexual abuse by a truly creepy character that makes a brief but nauseatingly memorable appearance in this compelling novel, Boyne manages to make this a satisfying read.

It may sound depressing, and much of it is, but there is humour here, empathy, and most importantly, redemption.

Air opens in Sydney Airport where a father, Aaron, is waiting to board a plane going to Dubai, en route to Dublin. 

He has only “a recalcitrant teenage boy for company”. That’s his son, Emmet.

Aaron, who has just turned 40, is a child psychologist. That choice of career may be influenced by what happened to him when he was his son’s age.

The sexual abuse that was meted out to him by an accomplished doctor, Freya (who took advantage of a lot of young boys) has seen her imprisoned, but the damage lingers.

Aaron’s pain, coupled with his ex-wife Rebecca’s sister taking her own life, means their marriage hadn’t much of a chance.

Aaron is mostly incapable of having sex. His son wonders why his father doesn’t have a girlfriend — or a boyfriend, if that’s his preference.

In the meantime, Aaron, having spotted three semi-naked photos of Emmet on the teenager’s own phone, wonders for whom the pictures were taken. 

Aaron has to try to find a way of talking to his son. This trip, which is a surprise visit to Rebecca, offers the opportunity for father and son to bond, or it could tear them further apart. 

As for the strained relations between Aaron and Rebecca, perhaps he should have listened to her mother Vanessa, who advised Aaron not to marry her daughter.

When father and son land in Dubai, with a long wait for the connecting flight to Dublin, Emmet throws a strop. 

He seems resolute in refusing to travel any further and tells his dad to book him a hotel. Failing that, he’ll sleep in the airport until it’s time to return to Australia. 

What looks like a potentially interesting plot line is soon watered down when Emmet finally agrees to travel onwards with Aaron.

It emerges that Emmet is actually a likeable young fellow. He may have slightly obnoxious tendencies but he is fond of his father. 

However, he is quite bitter towards his mother who left the family. Can the fissures be healed?

At the heart of the marital breakdown is a novelist, Furia Flyte. 

Poor Aaron, who had his head turned by this attractive woman, recalls rocking up to her apartment where he declared his love for her, but she almost spat at him, saying he barely knew her.

The premise of taking time to reflect while 30,000 feet in the air is rich in possibilities. 

On terra firma in Dublin, father and son make their way to Galway by train and then take a boat out to an island where Rebecca is staying with her partner.

Towards the end of the narrative, Aaron announces that he is that “thing” that Emmet talks about — the unreliable narrator. 

He didn’t even accept that he was Freya’s victim and thereby failed to give himself a chance to heal.

But as Aaron looks out to sea, he declares that he will eventually be at one with himself — and with the elements.