Rock Paper Scissors

“Adam Wright built a reputation in the business for turning undiscovered novels into Blockbuster movies, and he’s still always on the lookout for the next. I’ll admit that I sometimes feel jealous, but I think that’s only natural given the number of nights when he would rather take a book to bed. My husband doesn't cheat on me with other women, or men, he has love affairs with their words.

Human beings are strange and unpredictable species. I prefer the company of animals, which is one of the many reasons why I work at Battersea Dogs Home. Four-legged creatures tend to make much better companions than those with two, and dogs don’t hold grudges or know how to hate. I’d rather not think about the other reasons why I work there; sometimes the dust of our memories is better left unswept.”

Amelia portrays her marriage as one-sided. Adam is disinterested and takes any opportunity to distance himself emotionally. The reference to unspoken issues (“other reasons I work here”) is part of the cryptic foreshadowing Feeney uses throughout the book to hint at unexpressed elements that later become more important.

“Reading Rock Paper Scissors was like getting a little glimpse of your soul; a part of you that you weren’t quite ready to show me, but we shouldn’t hide secrets from each other or ourselves. Your dark and twisted love story, about a man who writes a letter to his wife every year on their anniversary, even after she dies, has inspired me to start writing some letters of my own. To you. Once a year. I don’t know whether I’ll share them with you yet, but maybe one day our children can read how we wrote our own love story, and lived happily ever after.”

This is the last paragraph of the first love letter. Because Amelia is Adam’s wife, the natural assumption is that these anniversary letters are from her—but they’re really from Robin, his first wife. The letter contains hints of unspoken events and issues. Feeney creates mystery through several cryptic comments; for instance, the letter says that they shouldn’t hide secrets without explaining what motivated that comment.

“There are as many varieties of heartbreak as there are love, but fear is always the same, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m afraid of so many things right now. I think perhaps the real reason I am so scared of losing—or leaving—my husband, is because I don’t have anyone else. I’ve never known what it is like to have a real family, and I’ve always been better at collecting acquaintances than making friends. On the rare occasion when I feel like I have met someone I can trust, I hold on. Tight. But my judgment can be faulty. There are some people in my life I shouldn’t have walked away from: I should have run.”

This follows Amelia’s description of turning down ill-suited dog adopters. The remark comparing “love” to “heartbreak” is an example of Amelia’s poetic use of proverbial sayings. It implies that she’s more literate than one might expect. Her fear of being abandoned and alone is a major element of her desire to stay married.