Earth is the second book in John Boyne’s Elements series. Evan Keogh never wanted to be a footballer: that was his father, Charlie’s dream. Now that he finally, reluctantly, is and, at twenty-two, obscenely rich into the bargain, an incident sees him getting the sort of publicity his club, and his father, would rather avoid.

He is before the court as an accessory to a rape by his teammate, Robbie Wolverton, son of a peer. There’s pressure for him to back up Robbie’s story, to avoid a conviction. As he watches their female barrister methodically tear the victim’s credibility to shreds, his thoughts return to his departure from the island, and what followed.

Evan’s dream is to be an artist, it’s what he left the island, and his father’s iron rule, to become. Evan has a talent for football, and Charlie can’t understand why he doesn’t want to make a career of it.

Nor would Charlie understand Evan’s sexual preferences, if he knew, or the heartbreak of rejection that sent him out alone in bad weather: suicide by fishing boat. Maggie Keogh helps her son escape. But an aspiring artist has to eat, to live, so when Rafe, obviously wealthy and influential, propositions him, he acquiesces, only to be repeatedly used by different men of power. When that ends, football is his last resort.

Much later, Evan reflects: “I became a different boy than the one I was supposed to be. I wanted to be a painter. I wanted to be good. I wanted to love someone, and to be loved in return. But none of these ambitions came to be. 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.”

Boyne gives the reader some wonderful descriptive prose: “the two of them laughing uproariously over some private joke, displaying their great white teeth and their glorious, unassailable privilege.” His characters, their flaws and failings, will resonate with readers, and the ending of this short piece is perfect.

While Evan, and some of the minor characters in this story, including the island off Galway, appear in Water, this one can stand alone. And as with Water, Boyne tackles a sensitive and topical subject, and manages, in less than two hundred pages, to really pack a punch.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Random House UK Transworld.