Other Sellers on Amazon
Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your account will only be charged when we dispatch the item.
+ S$0.50 Delivery
48% positive over last 12 months
Scissors, Paper, Stone Paperback – 5 April 2018
-
Get S$5 Off with Mastercard W/WE Cards. Enter code MCAMZ5 at checkout. Discount Provided by Amazon. Terms
Purchase options and add-ons
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.
- Print length256 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication date5 April 2018
- ISBN-100008221774
- ISBN-13978-0008221775
Product description
Review
'The relationship between the two women is very well done – tense, hinting all the time at some fatal incident …truly disturbing, utterly believable … sensitive, never prurient' Margaret Forster
'Moving, terrifyingly real' Observer
'Day's subtle prose packs a powerfully disturbing punch as her understated yet candid handling of dark subjects reaches into the most raw and fragile parts of all of us … Sad, delicate and convincing Scissors Paper Stone is a reminder of how the human need to love and be loved can destroy all that we hold dear. It's a striking debut novel from a talented writer' Metro
'A brave and thoughtful book … As an attempt to analyse the dysfunctional web of relationships within an outwardly normal family, it's a courageous and sensitive story' Independent
About the Author
Elizabeth Day is the author of three previous novels. Her acclaimed debut Scissors, Paper, Stone, won a Betty Trask Award and Home Fires was an Observer book of the year. She is also an award-winning journalist and has written extensively for the Telegraph, The Times, the Guardian, the Observer, the Mail on Sunday, Vogue, Elle and the Evening Standard.
@elizabday
www.elizabethdayonline.co.uk
Product details
- Language : English
- Paperback : 256 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0008221774
- ISBN-13 : 978-0008221775
- Customer reviews:
Customer reviews
Top reviews from other countries
Initially, though the prose was elegant, this did strike me as a kitchen sink drama. There is an awful lot of analogy used in consecutive sentences but as they are all very original, useful analogies it is not too distracting. The tense conversations could be a little wearing but could be excused due to the unraveling back-story. Many of the situations seemed so familiar that it was almost clichéd but that is always a risk when you are reading something that is an realistic portrayal of a normal life. Anne was a very difficult character to sympathise with and I was a little disappointed with one moment right at the end of the novel, which seemed to throw a token explanation out as to why Charles behaved the way he did. These points aside, it is Charlotte's emotional turmoil that made this novel something else, the description of her conflicted feelings and how she tries to cope felt painfully accurate. Overall, it was sometimes a difficult novel to read but there was a lot to admire in it's execution, language and delicacy.
Elizabeth Day's disturbing, yet readable story of a dysfunctional family is beautifully written and the author has been brave in her choice of subject for a first novel. Anne's and Charlotte's situation is well-depicted by the author, although the intensity of the lives of the main protagonists overshadows the other characters in the story and Charlotte's boyfriend, Gabriel, comes across as rather one-dimensional and a little bit too good to be true - as does Anne's kind friend, Janet. Also I do have to say that although I sympathized with Anne's predicament initially, and I do understand that she was in a very difficult position, as I read on I found it difficult to believe that she would put her love for her husband before the welfare of her vulnerable daughter - but I cannot explain further without including spoilers. That said, I found this story of emotional repression, of damage and betrayal an involving, thought-provoking and unsettling read and, for a debut novel, a rather good one.
4 Stars.