Rock Paper Scissors

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-15

Chapters 16-30

Chapters 31-45

Chapters 46-61

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Book Club Questions

Character Analysis

Robin Wright

Robin is the first wife of screenwriter Adam and the daughter of bestselling horror novelist Henry. When Feeney first introduces her by name in Chapter 14, 70 pages into the narrative, the natural assumption is that she wasn’t present in the story before then. However, the annual love letters to Adam beginning in Chapter 3 are from Robin. These letters reveal that she was a meek, adoring fan of Adam as a writer. Not until later does the narrative reveal that she asked Henry, from whom she’s estranged, to let Adam adapt one of his novels, jumpstarting Adam’s career. Her marriage to Adam was a series of disappointments, from her inability to conceive a child, to Adam’s oblivious emotional distance, to his affair with her best friend.

The narrative introduces Robin by name as a hermit living in a two-room cottage on the grounds of Blackwater Chapel. A total recluse, her only companion is Oscar the rabbit. Her seemingly random, malicious troublemaking intentions toward the couple staying in the chapel make her appear like a person with a mental illness or, as prior residents of the chapel reportedly were, a witch.

Robin is an unusual protagonist for several reasons. First, though her presence is expressed in the form of love letters to her beloved husband, these tender missives seem to be from Amelia, Adam’s second wife, who gets the undeserved credit for the affection they express. Second, when Robin finally makes an appearance, Feeney portrays her in a way that provokes suspicion and invites empathy toward Amelia and Adam as needing protection from this recluse. Third, even when the truth is revealed, Robin’s intentions are dark and center on disrupting the union of her former husband and his current wife. She eventually resorts to murder and mutilation to resume the idyllic life she sought with Adam.

Amelia Wright

A natural assumption is that Amelia is the novel’s protagonist, as her voice narrates first and most often. Amelia is Adam’s current wife, and the two are experiencing discord and seeing a marriage counselor. Although she hopes their weekend in the Scottish Highlands will be a new start, Amelia expresses grave reservations about her relationship with Adam. She frequently hints that she has alternative plans.

As the narrative progresses, it becomes clear that Amelia is really Adam’s second wife. Amelia was Robin’s best friend when the two worked together at a dog rescue facility. When Robin discovered Amelia in bed with Adam on their 10th anniversary, she ended her marriage to him, and Amelia immediately moved in. During the following two years, the shared physical attraction between Amelia and Adam has dimmed.

The narrative’s latter stages reveal that Amelia, whose parents died when she was born, was a troubled youth raised in multiple foster homes. Amelia conceals from Adam that, at 13, she was the girl who stole the car that ran over and instantly killed his mother.

Adam Wright

The man in the love triangle with Robin and Amelia, Adam is a gifted screenwriter who is experiencing an up-and-down career. His long-term desire is to turn his masterpiece script, Rock Paper Scissors, into a movie. His career received a boost when noted horror author Henry Winter allowed him to adapt one of his famous novels for the screen.

Adam has prosopagnosia, or “face blindness.” He’s unable to recognize people by their faces or read their expressions. This means that he can’t pick his wife out of a crowd and couldn’t recognize the face of the girl driving the car that ran over his mother. His face blindness is a metaphor for his being “blind” to the emotional needs of others. He’s unable to cope with the loudness and haste of the real world and finds happiness only when disappearing into his “writing shed.”

The narrative first presents Adam as a cranky, childlike man who pouts because he must go to Scotland to try to save his marriage. He has real misgivings about Amelia and the worthiness of their relationship. Like her, he wants a fresh start.

Henry Winter

Mysterious and reclusive, Henry is an admired, widely read author of the horror genre. His willingness to allow Adam to adapt one of his novels for the screen is a first. He does so as a secret favor to his daughter Robin, though she continues to remain estranged from him.

As he grows older, Henry abandons his London flat and lives exclusively in Blackwater Chapel, having purchased all the surrounding land. He lived at Blackwater with Robin when she was a girl. Robin’s mother died there under mysterious circumstances, and Robin believes Henry killed her.

Just before his death, Henry reconnects with Robin. She takes over his literary operation after he dies without telling anyone that he’s dead and begins to author novels as if she were Henry.