Scissors, Paper, Stone

by Elizabeth Day

A frank and beautiful story of damage, survival and restoration from an exhilarating literary voice.


As Charles Redfern lies motionless in hospital, his wife Anne and daughter Charlotte are forced to confront their relationships with him – and with each other. Anne, once beautiful and clever, has paled in the shadow of her husband's dominance. Charlotte, meanwhile, is battling with her own inner darkness and is desperate to prevent her relationship with her not-yet-divorced lover from disintegrating.


As the full truth of Charles's hold over them is brought to light, both women must reconcile themselves with the choices they have made, the secrets they have kept, and the uncertain future that now lies ahead of them.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Roman, Adult Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Elizabeth Day is an English journalist, broadcaster and novelist. She was a feature writer for The Observer from 2007 to 2016 and has written four novels.

Reviews

[Sibyl · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book made me really cross.

I ended up going to an event featuring this author at a literature festival. She was pleasant, intelligent, articulate - and read a couple of extracts from the novel. In one a woman hears that her husband has come off his bike. In the other the same woman, earlier on in her marriage, witnesses her husband being unfaithful

Having now read the whole thing, I have opted to dislike the novel - even if the author had seemed very likeable. It seems to be an attempt to fuse misery lit with literary fiction. One reviewer talks about the attempt to relocate the abuse narrative into a 'typical middle class setting'.

Of course abuse can - and does - happen in families throughout the social spectrum. However I get impatient with the quantity of literary novels set in that very, very narrow milieu where people have large houses in Kew, but only one person has to work to pay the mortgage. It's a world where people tend to have ill-defined jobs in 'banking' or 'art galleries.' When people fall ill they are - naturally, effortlessly whisked off to the nearest private hospital. And remain there for weeks, because in this world BUPA never asks awkward questions.

The author's a journalist and - to do her credit - there is a dramatic momentum to this novel which made it easy enough to read. How are a mother and daughter who have never been close going to cope, when the man who links them has a serious accident?

And one particular scene in which the father first takes advantage of his wife's absence and his daughter's sickness is so powerfully done, that just about everything else feels false or anodyne, by contrast

The relentless over-description, the women's magazine level of analysis of personal relationships, I could just about take.

It was more of a problem that the central male character was so unrelentingly loathesome it was quite impossible to see quite why the two women were in thrall to him for so long.

What made me really annoyed is that I felt the novel was trying to have its cake and eat it. The theme of sexual abuse sells memoirs - and fiction too.

But the hastily contrived 'happy ending' is grotesque. To imply that the visible consequences of father-daughter incest can be limited to a small patch of eczema - and that a little bit of true love will belatedly conquer all - is something I find very distasteful indeed...

[Dem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to think about rating for this book as would like to have given it 3.5 stars which was not possible but felt it deserved better than 3. I liked this debut novel by Elizabeth Day. It tells the story of 30-year-old Charlotte and her parents, Anne and Charles. Charles is involved in an accident and as he lies motionless in a coma in hospital, his wife Anne and daughter Charlotte are forced to come together to confront their relationships with him and with each other. I thought it was a well written first Novel and really found it an interesting book. I liked the pace of the book and it was a quick read. I have to admit was drawn to the pretty cover of book but it lived up to its expectations.

[Samantha Davenport · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was recommended this book along with The Garden of Evening Mists which was terrific so maybe it's me, particularly since I was impressed with how quickly and quietly an atmosphere of depression was established in the first 40-50 pages or so. The author can write. However for me there just wasn't enough plot to support a whole book and I found all of the characters unlikeable even the ones I was supposed to like. Given "truly disturbing" and "daring...story of damage" as cover blurbs it came as a bit of a shock that the entire story revolved around some heavy-petting incest. Yes, yes, incest does ruin people and families -- even seemingly perfect or well-to-do ones -- so I understand that's part of the quiet-desperation point here but that is also why I had trouble with the ending: it felt far too superficial and contrived a way to tidy up.

[Isaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

WARNING SPOILERS, I want justice for Charles !!!, who knocked him off his bike, a man in his prime and ran away ? there are four suspects, min..... five if you include E Day who was the first to find him. It is now a murder investigation, too many cyclists are killed on our roads, over 100 a year, and nothing is done about it, what was said at the inquest,how far have the police got ? is there a cover up? It seams no one saw the collision.
1 Anne , she is my guess, Charles had a good job, life insurance, pension, a house in Kew worth £3.5
mil, so she is now a rich women, who finally had enough. she now goes on holidays with her
friend Janet to places like the West Indies or West Africa seeking certain comforts, I can see
her sitting on a beach with a smile, knitting. Body Heat anyone.

2 Charlotte , the kiss in Piccadilly started to bring back the years of sexual abuse at the hands of
Charles and his rich and influential friends who needed this covered up. there is plenty of
this stuff on TV and in the newspapers already, there are pedo gangs in Surrey too, not just
up north.
3 Gabriel , when Lotte told him about the abuse he went nuts, he is not a man for up front
confrontation but could knock a man of a bike in the quiet roads of Kew.
4 Janet, OK we know Charles is not to particular about his women, if they have a pulse they are fare
game, so when he told her he had had enough she was not a happy bunny, after all she had
put up with Anne, and that's not easy, just to be close to him.
5 Lizzy, she knows to much about the above, maybe a neighbor or lover, she was the first to find our
hero, the baddies are always the best, I see a mini series on Netflix.
6 Anon, somebody we don't know about until the 10th book in the series.

So come on lets together and demand JUSTICE for Charles we must find his killer,

[Sue Hopkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing was beautiful, the authors way with words was beautiful and she sure knows how to tell a tale, I found her style quite exquisite. Intelligent and bold. however there was just something so depressing about the story I just couldn’t fully get into it. I really dislike stories where constantly characters don’t speak, where they are always silent, so restrained and yet everyone seems to understand each other! Really? Anne’s character was just so alien to me, almost like she met someone and instantly she’s can’t think for herself anymore. I felt like shaking her and Charles he was awful. I enjoyed the story on some level, but I just don’t think I was in the mood for something so non uplifting!!

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I did not intent to find this book as absorbing as I did, giving over a whole afternoon to finishing it off. Family secrets are the focus of this book, and very disturbing those secrets turn out to be. I will not comment further on the secrets [they drive the plot] but to say that every woman will find them heartbreaking. The voice of the novel is so direct and yet delicately english, beautifully written, and totally believable. The themes of damaged lives and betrayed love course through the novel in such a powerful & exhilarating way it becomes totally absorbing and very affecting, leaving me in tears. It is a book I will read again & will stay with me.

[Judith Yeabsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another very un-cheery book for the most part but a must read for all English people raised by intelligent but not particularly loving parents. Aside from the abuse there were so many points to identify with !!
I was fascinated but appalled by the family dynamics and the central characters were well developed enough that you started to really feel for them. I would definitely read another of her books.

[Wendy Greenberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

An unhappy family forced into confronting their demons by an accident. This could have been a far more incisive emotional read if the author hadn't inserted unnecessary descriptions/characters in an attempt to make sure we "understood" the dynamics. My feeling is that it needed to be more raw and without "cosy" resolution.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An emotional touching study of a mother and daughter's broken relationship that revolves around the power held over them by their husband/father. Disturbing subject but well handled. Look forward to future novels.

[Claire Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was a really true description of how, despite the main character being completely unlikeable, life behind closed doors can happen. I enjoy books that are set in a short snippet of a life ... I think this is worth a read.

[Sarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

شگفتا
اولین بار بود یک کتاب همزمان شوکه م کرد و اشکم رو دراورد

[Emma Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark, twisty and surprising. Yet for some reason I couldn't turn my eyes from the page.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a brave book and shocking in places, I enjoy Day's style of writing, how she builds the characters and the different layers to the narrative in this book in particular.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really thoughtful and in depth tale that really struck a chord with me- Day has a real knack at dissecting characters and relationships to peel apart situations. This is a very well written and careful debut, with parallels, I thought, to Patrick Melrose at times. It's been quite interesting to read some debuts by writers who I've become quite interested in as their success and market presence has increased- I hadn't known about this book, or Matt Haig's previous books, before recently.

[Ruth Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just adore Day’s writing. Although this debut was written years before her podcast began which alerted me to her work, I can hear echoes of themes discussed by her guests and see reflections of many thoughts and beliefs she has since voiced in these characters.

The story deals with dark themes with sensitivity and grace, using the central event to explore a complex web of relationships. I enjoyed the way different chapters followed different characters, offering insights into their thoughts and experiences to weave the narrative together and flesh out the emotional content.

[Alice Caryer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a weird one. I've mainly rated it 3 because of the ending. I don't want to include spoilers but I just didn't find it very believable considering the emotional weight of the rest of the book. And weighty it is; this is not a fun read at all. I've never been more frustrated by a maternal figure in my entire reading life!

[Bríd Dunne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do really like Elizabeth Day but struggled with this. It’s SO miserable and the abuse experienced by both female protagonists endured for years yet they both just happily get over it and move on without much todo at the end of the book. A few key conversations and decade of abuse are resolved. That’s not how that happens...

[Anouska · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read in to the complexities of a dysfunctional family. A great story for inner strength and never letting go of your true self. Although I enjoyed the writing and the complications of the characters I wish there was more to the story.

[Elizabeth Cairney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good read. Family relationships with the key character in a coma and looking at how the wife and his daughter review the relationship they had with him. Although he is not awake he still dominates their behaviour and feelings. A fascinating study of the parent child dynamic.

[The Twins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Highlighting the relationship between family members - some of it is believable but too much doom and gloom, I think these are really extremes. Father is extremely unlikable and mom is a coward.

[Mandy Downie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The subject matter is very sad BUT I really loved this book . Really well written - will look out for more of this author .

[Emma Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gripping at points. Slightly dissapointed by the ending, just felt it didn't quite work.

[Libre Paley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The clever stroke at the outset of the book is to make us feel curiosity about, even a tentative sympathy for, the apparently innocent victim of a life-threatening accident. We only know him as a father that loves his daughter, as we expect fathers will. Broadly, we hope he lives.
The story then unfolds, with an awful gentleness, into a tale of flesh-crawling subjugation and coercive control. Within that nests an even darker secret, and at its heart lies the tumour of a betrayal. In many ways it’s another tale of dark secrets under the brittle sheen of suburban, middle-class convention and repression. In this case, secrets that cannot hide any longer as the impact of the accident brings buried emotions and hard truths close to the surface.
The accident victim is Charles, and though he spends much of the contemporary chapters of the book comatose in a hospital bed, his controlling personality looms over all. The story transitions between present narrative and flashbacks, and is related in second person, mainly from the perspectives of Charles’s wife, Anne, and only child, Charlotte. Occasionally we get a view from the minor characters, helping to reveal some of the ill-concealed truths. Primarily though, the book comes into focus around the cautious reconciliation of mother and child, and the hope of redemption.
I had a few quibbles. First that the focus on the relationship between the three central characters of the small family is so intense that the minor characters can seem thin and inconsistent (for instance Charlotte’s boyfriend Gabriel) or as if called in from central casting (such as Anne’s parents, who briefly pop up then vanish). Also, the ending, whilst on one hand almost inevitable, is handled abruptly.
Finally, the time setting feels oddly old-fashioned (the occasional use of a cell / mobile phone notwithstanding). You have to remind yourself the novel is contemporary and that Charles and Anne must have met in the late 1970s, not the early 1950s.
Still, it’s worth remembering that many women (many people) continue to find themselves in controlling even abusive relationships; that hasn’t been consigned to the past. And overall, this is a riveting and moving read.

[Jindalee BubbleTea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have listened to Day’s podcast on and off but had never read her books. I saw a man flipping through friendaholic at the library and found this book was available not knowing it was her first novel.

Based on what she says in the podcast about herself it appeared there may have been bits of herself throughout the book like Charlottes anxiety.

There were elements of the story that were rather similar to my life so the characters and particularly some of the dynamics and inner thoughts felt very realistic.

It was a page turning read though I felt depressed the entire 3 days I took to read it so in that sense I’m glad I’ve finished it.

I live in Australia so the parts about London and suburbs all went over my head though I see from others reviews that these are perhaps the posher suburbs of London though not posh enough to be Mayfair or Park Land which is the only ones I’m familiar with (thanks Monopoly!) So I imagine the suburbs/setting are middle-upper middle class. I found an article where Day says she finds it “liberating” to write about rich people although I wouldn’t say this is explored per se, it’s more that it’s simple the type of family she’s chosen for the characters.

There were a few bits of plot that I questioned, like what are the chances of Charles pulling over to abuse his daughter right next to the footpath Anne is walking along. There’s no indication that he purposely chose that spot knowing Anne would likely be their either seeing as he then runs away for a week. I also found Anne’s telling Charlotte that she’d told Charles if he did it again they’d leave unbelievable. Her character doesn’t want to talk about the event at all so I can’t imagine her telling him she’d be strong enough to do this, so maybe this scene might have been better written as an actual dialogue between Anne and Charles rather than her just stating this to Charlotte.

There were also quite a few times I found myself bored by the characters inner thoughts and wanting to skip paragraphs which perhaps could have been cut with further editing.

That said Day, has an amazing ability to really get inside the heads of her character to make them and their failings so believable.

I am definitely going to read more of her books.

[Muhme Rumpumpel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Als Charles einen schweren Fahrradunfall hat und im Koma landet, löst er damit in seiner Frau Anne und der erwachsenen Tochter Charlotte eine Lawine an Gefühlen aus: die beiden in sich gekehrten und schnippischen Frauen, die sich wenig zu sagen haben, das nicht schnell in Vorwürfe eskaliert, werden plötzlich mit ihrer Vergangenheit konfrontiert. Anne lässt ihre schwierige Beziehung zu Charles Revue passieren, von ihrem Glück, diesen perfekten Mann abbekommen zu haben über die Ernüchterung ob seines brutalen Verhaltens bis hin zu der jahrzehntelangen tagtäglichen Demütigung durch ihn. Charlotte provoziert einen Krach nach dem nächsten mit ihrem liebevollen Partner Gabriel, bis sie schließlich einen Nervenzusammenbruch erleidet und ihm gesteht, was mit ihr "nicht stimmt": sie erzählt ihm von der andauernd gespannten Atmosphäre in ihrem Elternhaus, und auch von den immer wieder stattfindenden Übergriffen ihres Vaters, der sie sexuell belästigte, und dem gezielten Wegschauen ihrer Mutter. Anne ist es aber, die in einem lichten Moment ihren eigenen Käfig aus Selbstvorwürfen und "Schein wahren" durchbricht und ihre Tochter aufsucht, um sich bei ihr zu entschuldigen - ein neuer Anfang, der zusammenfällt mit dem Tod Charles'.

***

Ja, das Thema ist schwierig. Und ich verstehe jeden Leser, der kopfschüttelnd sagt: "So einfach geht Heilung nicht" - aber es ist halt ein Roman, und auch Liebesgeschichten werden uns normalerweise nicht unbedingt realistisch präsentiert. Und was dieser Roman auch ist: verdammt gut geschrieben. Obwohl mir beide Hauptfiguren nicht gerade sympathisch waren (Anne überhaupt nicht, Charlotte so lala), konnte ich das Buch praktisch nicht aus der Hand legen. Jeder Gedankengang, jede Handlung erschien mir schlüssig, und es gab für mich keinen Moment, an dem ich genug von diesen Leuten hatte. Das, finde ich, ist ein ziemlich großes Kompliment an die Autorin.

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy Elizabeth Day's writing so picked this up after reading The Party. I wasn't so keen on the subject matter of this book to be honest and probably wouldn't have bought this if I'd realised what the core of the story was about.

I didn't hate it, the writing was as good as I expected but my main problem with it was that I just didn't like any of the characters. Charles was unrelenting awful, although there were several places in the book where he was described as 'charming' I never saw even a glimpse of that, Anne was rude and pathetic, Charlotte was needy and a bit of a bully, Gabriel was basically a blank, Janet's continued relationship with Anne when the latter was so inexcusably horrible to her was inexplicable.

Charles' motivations were still almost a total mystery by the end other than a brief scene which very squarely pointed the finger at the source of the problem although maybe that was deliberate given his situation but I'd have liked a little more exploration of Charles and Anne's marriage and his early life, a bit more of how he came to be who he was.

For a book with little dialogue, the internal monologues didn't really reveal that much about the characters and the one monologue I would've liked to hear (Charles) was almost completely missing.

The ending was a bit twee for my liking.

Overall, I much preferred her later book 'The Party' but I'll definitely look out for anything else she writes.

[Huw Rhys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite sure what to make of this book. In many ways it's a hard read - in many others, it's really accessible.

This is Elizabeth Day's first novel. She has a lovely, flowing writing style which has been developed in her later novels, but this first tome is beautifully written. It's clear, it's concise, it flows - and it also touches on the lyrical at times.

This tells the story of a family - a mother, a husband and a daughter - and the fraught, complicated, at times thoroughly horrible relationship matrix between them. In many ways, it is the story of any family, though the acuity of the central conceit is anything but normal..... and it is this which makes the novel so hard to read at times.

I know which one of the three I didn't like at all - but how much did I like or empathise with the other two characters? And how much of their discomfiture came about as the result of the actions taken against them by the third party?

A thoroughly thought provoking novel - Elizabeth Day will be around for a long time to come - hopefully!

[Sue]

What happens when communications with others misfire is that misunderstandings increase and somehow there is no way that the damage can be undone. This book cleverly describes how people manage to misunderstand each other and how relationships founder in a welter of fear, recrimination and passive aggression. The title describes a game where children perform three gestures in an attempt to co-incide with each other and where, more often than not, they miss. This is really a clever description of this novel, no-one can arrive at mutuality. I also liked the shifts between the view points of different characters, so that for example, a woman viewed by her critical friend, leads the reader into seeing her deficiencies, but by the end, we see her from other points of view in a much friendlier and more positive light. The shift is quite subtle and also quite realistic.
This is a well written and interesting novel and also quite believable.

[Melissa Surgey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Elizabeth Day's non-fiction writing and journalism and previously enjoyed The Party so picked up Scissors, Paper, Stone as part of my working through her novels. I'm not sure if it would have been on my radar if I wasn't a fan of the author already. It was an interesting concept in that not very much happens - it's very much a narrative of two women's (a mother and daughter with a fractured relationship) response to a major life event (their abusive husband/father being in a coma). What did keep me reading was the dark and chilling atmosphere Day creates - there are definitely feelings of something sinister going on and hints dropped throughout which builds and builds. However overall the plot and character development fell a bit flat for me personally compared to The Party.

[Ninaminacat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gradual revelation of the relationships between the characters

This is an in-depth examination of Anne's relationships with her husband, Charles, her daughter, Charlotte and her friend, Janet. It is unusual in that the narrative is driven not by character or action but by these relationships. The viewpoint switches between the various characters, concentrating particularly on Anne and Charlotte. The chapter headings helpfully indicate which character or relationship will be the focus. There is sometimes an atmosphere of menace and some of the plot line is disturbing, so if you are after a tale of happy families, this novel is not going to give you the cosy feeling you desire.

This was my first novel by Elizabeth Day and will not be my last.