Introduction

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

â??Feeney lives up to her reputation as the â??queen of the twistâ?â?¦This page-turner will keep you guessing.â? ?Real Simple

Think you know the person you married? Think againâ?¦

Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He canâ??t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.

Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts--paper, cotton, pottery, tin--and each year Adamâ??s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didnâ??t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesnâ??t want them to live happily ever after.

Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.

Rock Paper Scissors is the latest exciting domestic thriller from the queen of the killer twist, New York Times bestselling author Alice Feeney.

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Discussion Questions

1. “Marriages don’t fail, people do.” It’s hard to know who to trust in this marriage thriller, as both Adam and Amelia are unreliable narrators at times. Whose side were you on at the start of the book, Adam’s or Amelia’s? Did you change your mind?

2. “My husband doesn’t recognize my face” is the opening line of the novel. Adam has a neurological glitch called prosopagnosia, which means he cannot see distinguishing features on faces, including his own. Had you heard of prosopagnosia (face blindness) before reading ROCK PAPER SCISSORS? How much of a part did Adam’s condition play in the plot, and what about it did you find interesting?

3. ROCK PAPER SCISSORS features letters written to Adam by his wife on their anniversary each year, letters she has never let him read until now. Each one begins with a “word of the year.” There’s a fair bit of “hornswoggling” and the odd “biblioklept”; they aren’t always “chuffed” to be with each other, and the “shenanigans” that the couple got up to in the past tells us a lot about their present. Which was your favorite word of the year and why?

4. “Maybe all marriages have secrets, and maybe the only way to stay married is to keep them.” Adam’s wife believes this to be true, but do you? Can we ever really know everything there is to know about another person, even someone we love?

5. Adam is highly superstitious; he salutes magpies and would never walk under a ladder. Are you superstitious about anything? Adam also carries an old paper crane and a lucky penny in his wallet at all times. Do you believe in luck? Is there something sentimental you would feel lost without?

6. Henry Winter, the elderly novelist in the book, has chosen to live in a converted chapel in a beautiful but very remote corner of the Scottish Highlands. Why do you think some people need to be alone, while others surround themselves with friends and family?

7. “We are our parents’ echoes and sometimes they don’t like what they hear.” All of the main characters in this novel have been haunted by their parents in one way or another. Why do you think none of them were quite able to move on with their lives and put the past behind them? Would things have been different if they had?

8. What was your favorite twist in the book?

9. Let’s talk about Robin. What were your first impressions of this character? Did your opinion of her change while you were reading?

10. If you were one of the characters in this book, with whom would you most relate and why?

11. All of the illustrations at the start of each chapter in this novel were bespoke. Have you ever seen drawings in a psychological thriller before? Did you like them? Did you have a favorite?

12. Have you read any of Alice Feeney’s other novels? (SOMETIMES I LIE, I KNOW WHO YOU ARE, HIS & HERS). If so, which of her books did you enjoy best and why?

13. ROCK PAPER SCISSORS is being made into a TV series for Netflix by the producer of “The Crown” and “Behind Her Eyes.” What is it about the book that you think might make it work on-screen? Is it the setting, the characters or the plot?

14. Were you worried about Bob the dog? (Alice Feeney says she is owned by her black Labrador!)

15. It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t end with a quick game of rock paper scissors! Talk about how the game plays a part in the book, then play a quick round with whomever you’re with right now. Even if it’s just your dog (if that’s the case, you really ought to win!).

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by Books&Banter (see profile) 03/10/22

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