Publication
Virago Press Ltd (2015), 599 pages
Original publication date
2014
Collections
Awards
Women's Prize for Fiction (Longlist — 2015)
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2016)
Lambda Literary Award (Finalist — 2015)
Kirkus Prize (Finalist — Fiction — 2014)
The Morning News Tournament of Books (Quarterfinalist — 2015)
British Book Award (Shortlist — 2014)
Independent Booksellers' Book Prize (Winner — Adult — 2015)
The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction (Longlist — 2015)
Europese Literatuurprijs (Longlist — 2015)
Goldie Award (Finalist — 2015)
Bisexual Book Award (Finalist — Fiction — 2014)
Paterson Fiction Prize (Finalist — 2015)
NPR: Books We Love (2014)
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year (Literary Fiction — 2014)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Fiction — 2014)
The Observer Book of the Year (Fiction — 2014)
ALA Over the Rainbow Book List (Selection — Fiction — 2015)
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Fiction — 2014)
LibraryReads (Monthly Pick — September 2014)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — Fiction — 2014)
Description
It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned, the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa, a large silent house now bereft of brothers, husband and even servants, life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers.
User reviews
LibraryThing member JaneSteen
Where I got the book: purchased on Kindle. A read for my IRL book club.
I came to this novel having barely skimmed the description, so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. As I started it, one book club friend was lamenting that she was waiting for something to happen…
And I must admit, this
The story gradually builds through the inevitable encounters between the Wrays and the Barbers, mostly due to the fact that you have to pass through the kitchen to get to the toilet. One of the frequently encountered peculiarities of English houses, even less than a century ago, was that even a plumbed-in toilet was outdoors—my parents’ house, which was built in the Thirties, still has theirs, attached to the kitchen wall but very definitely outside (the one in the bathroom was put there later). At my great-grandmother’s house, you had to “go down the garden” to “see Auntie.” I know, it makes me feel like a relic from another age. (My other grandparents’ house had an inside loo of the enormous Victorian variety, with a stout wooden seat, hard semi-transparent paper, and tooth powder instead of toothpaste in the bathroom. I am OLD.)
Another location for encounters is the upstairs landing, since Frances still has her bedroom on that floor; the Barbers spill out of their space into the Wrays’, a perpetual intrusion that announces just how much space they are going to take up in the lives of the two Wray women.
Despite Mrs. Wray’s reluctance to have anything more to do with “that class of people” than they have to, a friendship slowly builds between Lil and Frances. Along the way we also find out that the great love of Frances’ life was a woman, Chrissy, whom she still visits, but that when it came to choosing between her mother and respectability or Chrissy, social ostracism, and a bohemian lifestyle, Frances took the easier path. Chrissy has moved on, while Frances is still stuck, clinging to the shreds of an old life which is literally falling into pieces around her (her clothing, her hidden underwear in particular, is wearing thin and falling into holes—a nice touch.)
And up to this point, despite the fact that there wasn’t much happening, I was absorbed in the story. I loved the depiction of post-War London with its gradually changing social attitudes and the rise of the new type of middle class represented by Lil and Len. I loved the tension the Wray women experience when it comes to keeping up appearances. I enjoy literary novels which present the reader with slow revelation of the truths and lies of the past. I had only a vague idea of where the story was going, but I was comfortable with it.
And THEN…Well, I’m not going to tell you. Seriously, this novel is best read without spoilers of any kind—let me just say that my friend’s complaint about nothing happening simply meant she hadn’t read far enough into the book. There were several twists, too, so just when I thought I was pretty sure of the outcome, the rug was pulled out from under my feet and I had to start guessing all over again. Which is why I stayed up way too late last night so I could finish it.
The writing is beautiful, without a single word out of place or any slip into too-modern speech or attitudes. It’s a novel in the tradition of literary realism, a very warts-and-all look at humankind that nonetheless never slides into outright pessimism or dislike of the human race. I’m trying to decide whether Waters wrote from a stance of moral impartiality (as far as that can be achieved) or whether her sympathies did, after all, lean toward her protagonists. She does make it clear that we have a choice as to the paths we are going to take, even when we feel caught up in events, but shows, I think, that we make those choices wearing a blindfold.
Some of the realism overwhelmed me at times, especially at one point when I felt there were far too many bodily fluids sloshing around. I have my limits. And there was something eerily symbolic about that whole business of constantly passing through the kitchen to get to the bathroom…and the house that Frances never seemed able to keep clean after a while, and that began literally disintegrating by the end. Of course it was a whole world that disintegrated as a result of the First World War, only I don’t suppose the people caught up in that war actually realized it until much later.
All ramblings aside, this was a nice literary read, and a painstakingly researched piece of historical fiction to boot. I feel like there are some very strong writers in the British Isles right now, many of them of an age that promises a good many books to come. Going to Sarah Waters’ author page, I note I have three more of her books on my TBR list—I just requested The Little Stranger from the library, to round out my acquaintance with her writing.
I think The Paying Guests will probably earn a place in my Top Ten for 2014. Recommended.
I came to this novel having barely skimmed the description, so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. As I started it, one book club friend was lamenting that she was waiting for something to happen…
And I must admit, this
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story has a slow lead-in. It’s 1922; London is still recovering from the War, with unemployed ex-servicemen everywhere, many families still mourning the men they’ve lost, and the former servant class deserting their pre-War positions for greener pastures. Frances and her mother are forced, by their dwindling income, to let out part of their house to lodgers, or “paying guests” as it’s known in their genteel part of London. (I believe Champion Hill is an invented location, but Waters makes it completely convincing.) Their guests turn out to be Len and Lil Barber, several steps below the Wrays on the social scale but definitely climbing—Len has a good job, and Lil leads the idle, pointless life of a lower-middle-class wife. The upper middle classes and those above them are expected to do charity work, and Mrs. Wray still clings to this routine, leaving Frances to do all the housework since they can no longer afford servants.The story gradually builds through the inevitable encounters between the Wrays and the Barbers, mostly due to the fact that you have to pass through the kitchen to get to the toilet. One of the frequently encountered peculiarities of English houses, even less than a century ago, was that even a plumbed-in toilet was outdoors—my parents’ house, which was built in the Thirties, still has theirs, attached to the kitchen wall but very definitely outside (the one in the bathroom was put there later). At my great-grandmother’s house, you had to “go down the garden” to “see Auntie.” I know, it makes me feel like a relic from another age. (My other grandparents’ house had an inside loo of the enormous Victorian variety, with a stout wooden seat, hard semi-transparent paper, and tooth powder instead of toothpaste in the bathroom. I am OLD.)
Another location for encounters is the upstairs landing, since Frances still has her bedroom on that floor; the Barbers spill out of their space into the Wrays’, a perpetual intrusion that announces just how much space they are going to take up in the lives of the two Wray women.
Despite Mrs. Wray’s reluctance to have anything more to do with “that class of people” than they have to, a friendship slowly builds between Lil and Frances. Along the way we also find out that the great love of Frances’ life was a woman, Chrissy, whom she still visits, but that when it came to choosing between her mother and respectability or Chrissy, social ostracism, and a bohemian lifestyle, Frances took the easier path. Chrissy has moved on, while Frances is still stuck, clinging to the shreds of an old life which is literally falling into pieces around her (her clothing, her hidden underwear in particular, is wearing thin and falling into holes—a nice touch.)
And up to this point, despite the fact that there wasn’t much happening, I was absorbed in the story. I loved the depiction of post-War London with its gradually changing social attitudes and the rise of the new type of middle class represented by Lil and Len. I loved the tension the Wray women experience when it comes to keeping up appearances. I enjoy literary novels which present the reader with slow revelation of the truths and lies of the past. I had only a vague idea of where the story was going, but I was comfortable with it.
And THEN…Well, I’m not going to tell you. Seriously, this novel is best read without spoilers of any kind—let me just say that my friend’s complaint about nothing happening simply meant she hadn’t read far enough into the book. There were several twists, too, so just when I thought I was pretty sure of the outcome, the rug was pulled out from under my feet and I had to start guessing all over again. Which is why I stayed up way too late last night so I could finish it.
The writing is beautiful, without a single word out of place or any slip into too-modern speech or attitudes. It’s a novel in the tradition of literary realism, a very warts-and-all look at humankind that nonetheless never slides into outright pessimism or dislike of the human race. I’m trying to decide whether Waters wrote from a stance of moral impartiality (as far as that can be achieved) or whether her sympathies did, after all, lean toward her protagonists. She does make it clear that we have a choice as to the paths we are going to take, even when we feel caught up in events, but shows, I think, that we make those choices wearing a blindfold.
Some of the realism overwhelmed me at times, especially at one point when I felt there were far too many bodily fluids sloshing around. I have my limits. And there was something eerily symbolic about that whole business of constantly passing through the kitchen to get to the bathroom…and the house that Frances never seemed able to keep clean after a while, and that began literally disintegrating by the end. Of course it was a whole world that disintegrated as a result of the First World War, only I don’t suppose the people caught up in that war actually realized it until much later.
All ramblings aside, this was a nice literary read, and a painstakingly researched piece of historical fiction to boot. I feel like there are some very strong writers in the British Isles right now, many of them of an age that promises a good many books to come. Going to Sarah Waters’ author page, I note I have three more of her books on my TBR list—I just requested The Little Stranger from the library, to round out my acquaintance with her writing.
I think The Paying Guests will probably earn a place in my Top Ten for 2014. Recommended.
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LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
Sarah Waters sets her latest novel in suburban London in 1922. Frances Wray and her mother are still recovering from losing not only both of the sons in their family, but also Frances's father, who died leaving much less money than either woman had anticipated. Faced with her mother's helplessness,
This is a book that takes its time, preferring to pace itself on the slow tempo of life in a quiet, upmarket neighborhood, where although everything is observed, not much happens. Frances is being strangled by her life in her mother's house, doing all the housekeeping and budgeting while her mother frets about how things look and wonders when the servants can be rehired. Still, she's going to do the right thing, even as she slips away to walk the streets of London and visit friends her mother disapproves of. Lilian is a breath of fresh air to her, and they share an enjoyment of [Anna Karenina] and a longing for more.
For a book encompassing lesbian sex, a secret love affair and murder, The Paying Guests proceeds at an outrageously measured pace. I was in the odd position of both being able to set the book aside for days at a time, and to be unable to put the book down when I was reading it. The specific atmosphere of London between the wars permeates every page of the novel. Frances is a fascinating character; brave enough to want to let go of propriety and live as she longs to do and yet responsible and loving enough to set all that aside for a parent who is not altogether appreciative, or even fully aware of Frances's sacrifice. I enjoyed The Paying Guests quite a bit despite its slow and deliberate pace.
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Frances set aside her own plans and stayed at home to do the work of the servants who were let go and to prepare the house for lodgers, which Mrs Wray calls "paying visitors" so as to keep up appearances. Leonard Barber and his wife Lilian move into the house, which is uncomfortable at first for the Wrays. Slowly, Lilian and Frances become friends, despite the class difference. This is a book that takes its time, preferring to pace itself on the slow tempo of life in a quiet, upmarket neighborhood, where although everything is observed, not much happens. Frances is being strangled by her life in her mother's house, doing all the housekeeping and budgeting while her mother frets about how things look and wonders when the servants can be rehired. Still, she's going to do the right thing, even as she slips away to walk the streets of London and visit friends her mother disapproves of. Lilian is a breath of fresh air to her, and they share an enjoyment of [Anna Karenina] and a longing for more.
For a book encompassing lesbian sex, a secret love affair and murder, The Paying Guests proceeds at an outrageously measured pace. I was in the odd position of both being able to set the book aside for days at a time, and to be unable to put the book down when I was reading it. The specific atmosphere of London between the wars permeates every page of the novel. Frances is a fascinating character; brave enough to want to let go of propriety and live as she longs to do and yet responsible and loving enough to set all that aside for a parent who is not altogether appreciative, or even fully aware of Frances's sacrifice. I enjoyed The Paying Guests quite a bit despite its slow and deliberate pace.
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LibraryThing member Smiler69
London, 1922. Frances Wray and her aging mother have been living together in their large villa in Camberwell, a district in south London, all on their own, ever since Frances's two brothers were killed in the war, her father's death following shortly after, leaving both her mother and her in
For the first half of the novel, we are very much observing a rather slow-paced women's domestic fiction kind of story, which is all about nuance and minute detail meticulously and beautifully observed, bringing the house and it's residents and their interactions vividly to mind. But there is passion and plenty of excitement too, which will probably keep the general fiction reader going. By the time the mid-point is reached, suddenly events take a big dramatic turn. I won't reveal the exact nature of these events to avoid any spoilers, but suffice it to say there is a crime which is transformative both for the characters and for the novel itself, which now moves from the domestic to a more public realm. Now the law and the police are involved, a scandal erupts in the newspapers, there is a famous court case, and the tension keeps mounting, and through it all, Sarah Waters keeps us wondering about the fate of our main protagonists.
I thought this was a great read, and part of the enjoyment for me was actress Juliet Stevenson's impeccable narration, during which she gave each character a very distinct personality and voice and truly made you the reader actually live through the entire experience more vividly than I know I would have, had I merely read the words on a page with my limited imagination. I found some parts were a bit slow, and some were repetitive and maybe unnecessary and made the novel overly long, but these were balanced by great story elements and some surprises thrown in. I can't say I'm overly fond of romance in any form, and that aspect of the novel, which is rather an important one as the plot basically evolves around that theme, was extremely well executed, though I was still made uneasy by the actual sexual elements, though these will no doubt tantalize many readers. In all, definitely a worthwhile read and a very well executed novel.
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reduced circumstances, when it was discovered Mr. Wray had made bad investments and had left his widow and daughter debts to pay. They've had to let go their servants, which is bad enough for ladies of their genteel standing, but worse still, this has left Frances no choice but to take on all the hard chores of keeping house herself, which is something too shameful to reveal even to their closest relations. Barely able to eat their fill, they've decided to take on paying guests; the word "lodgers" will not enter their vocabulary, for they refuse to think of themselves as landladies, something too common to consider without evoking disturbing feelings. Then Lily and Len Barber erupt on the scene. They've arrived a little bit later than planned with all their possessions, ready to move into the top floor, which Frances has cleared, moving her mother into what was once the dining room downstairs, and only keeping her own bedroom up next to what will be the Barber's quarters. Leonard Barber is a clerk at an insurance company, a redhead, cheery and rather loud, while Mrs. Barber seems quite young, early 20s, very pretty but obviously done up and just slightly vulgar with the bright colourful clothes and clinking accessories she wears, and soon too the decor comes to resemble her personal style, which isn't exactly to Frances's liking. Frances is dismayed by all this. She has long ago resigned herself to her life as a spinster and life-comanion to her mother, even though she is still only twenty-six, expecting few pleasures and deriving satisfaction from her responsibilities and the familiarity of the grand old house and neighbourhood she has grown up in. But the Barber's arrival brings many changes, and after the initial resistance, Frances finds herself caught up in a whirlwind, not the least of which starts with the unlikely friendship she develops with Lilian Barber across the class divide. For the first half of the novel, we are very much observing a rather slow-paced women's domestic fiction kind of story, which is all about nuance and minute detail meticulously and beautifully observed, bringing the house and it's residents and their interactions vividly to mind. But there is passion and plenty of excitement too, which will probably keep the general fiction reader going. By the time the mid-point is reached, suddenly events take a big dramatic turn. I won't reveal the exact nature of these events to avoid any spoilers, but suffice it to say there is a crime which is transformative both for the characters and for the novel itself, which now moves from the domestic to a more public realm. Now the law and the police are involved, a scandal erupts in the newspapers, there is a famous court case, and the tension keeps mounting, and through it all, Sarah Waters keeps us wondering about the fate of our main protagonists.
I thought this was a great read, and part of the enjoyment for me was actress Juliet Stevenson's impeccable narration, during which she gave each character a very distinct personality and voice and truly made you the reader actually live through the entire experience more vividly than I know I would have, had I merely read the words on a page with my limited imagination. I found some parts were a bit slow, and some were repetitive and maybe unnecessary and made the novel overly long, but these were balanced by great story elements and some surprises thrown in. I can't say I'm overly fond of romance in any form, and that aspect of the novel, which is rather an important one as the plot basically evolves around that theme, was extremely well executed, though I was still made uneasy by the actual sexual elements, though these will no doubt tantalize many readers. In all, definitely a worthwhile read and a very well executed novel.
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LibraryThing member mckait
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters begins in 1922. The war is newly over, many men are dead, families shattered and an entire way of life has simply faded away for so many. Many ex- servicemen are out of work and desperate. Life has changed for everyone, everywhere, it seemed, not just in south
The Wray's home is now empty of all of its men, husband and sons. Frances and her mother are struggling to make ends meet, no longer able to employ help for keeping the house as they once did. Frances has taken on the cooking and cleaning duties, and yet the bolls mount, the butcher wants paid, and life is looking pretty grim. Frances mother can't even bear to watch her daughter perform the housekeeping tasks and busies herself with charities and good works as much as she is able.They have made the decision to let some of their rooms, a move made by many in their situation.
The time had come, the day arrived. The Wray's waited for their so called paying guests. The young couple was late, and the women were anxious. It had been a difficult decision to share their home with strangers, and waiting was maddening. And then, finally they were there. Len and Lillian and a precarious pile of belonging pulled up in front of the house in a large wagon. It seemed to the Wray's that they were not so boisterous, not so disturbing, on the day they visited the rooms. But there was nothing to do but to put a good face on it, and so Frances and her mother welcomed the couple, shoed them to their rooms, and tried to become used to sharing their space with people they didn't know at all.
As the day s passed it became a bit easier to find Lily and Len on the garden, or coming in from using the WC. In fact, Frances made up her mind to become more friendly with Lily. In fact, this offer of friendship was much easier than she thought it would be, when she found herself being drawn to Lily in a a romantic way, and Lily responded in kind.
Though they had to settle for brief encounters in hidden doorways, and stolen trists during moments when they found themselves alone. This was not Frances first such relationship, and her mother began to sound suspicious of the time the two young women spent together. Their feelings became stronger and it became more difficult to hide their feelings. It seemed an impossible relationship, especially during that time for the two women to find happiness. Then things became even more difficult. Someone died. The painful days following were impossibly difficult for those left behind. How could any of them go on.
Sarah Waters is the author of several other books, including Fingersmith and Affinity, as well as The Little Stranger. Each and every one a good read.
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London where this story takes place. The Wray's home is now empty of all of its men, husband and sons. Frances and her mother are struggling to make ends meet, no longer able to employ help for keeping the house as they once did. Frances has taken on the cooking and cleaning duties, and yet the bolls mount, the butcher wants paid, and life is looking pretty grim. Frances mother can't even bear to watch her daughter perform the housekeeping tasks and busies herself with charities and good works as much as she is able.They have made the decision to let some of their rooms, a move made by many in their situation.
The time had come, the day arrived. The Wray's waited for their so called paying guests. The young couple was late, and the women were anxious. It had been a difficult decision to share their home with strangers, and waiting was maddening. And then, finally they were there. Len and Lillian and a precarious pile of belonging pulled up in front of the house in a large wagon. It seemed to the Wray's that they were not so boisterous, not so disturbing, on the day they visited the rooms. But there was nothing to do but to put a good face on it, and so Frances and her mother welcomed the couple, shoed them to their rooms, and tried to become used to sharing their space with people they didn't know at all.
As the day s passed it became a bit easier to find Lily and Len on the garden, or coming in from using the WC. In fact, Frances made up her mind to become more friendly with Lily. In fact, this offer of friendship was much easier than she thought it would be, when she found herself being drawn to Lily in a a romantic way, and Lily responded in kind.
Though they had to settle for brief encounters in hidden doorways, and stolen trists during moments when they found themselves alone. This was not Frances first such relationship, and her mother began to sound suspicious of the time the two young women spent together. Their feelings became stronger and it became more difficult to hide their feelings. It seemed an impossible relationship, especially during that time for the two women to find happiness. Then things became even more difficult. Someone died. The painful days following were impossibly difficult for those left behind. How could any of them go on.
Sarah Waters is the author of several other books, including Fingersmith and Affinity, as well as The Little Stranger. Each and every one a good read.
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LibraryThing member lauralkeet
Times are tough for Frances and her mother. World War I deprived them of loved ones, and sources of income, and they are forced to let rooms in their London house in order to make ends meet. Their lodgers -- whom they prefer to call “paying guests” -- are Lilian and Len Barber, a young married
But then a horrible crime turns their world topsy-turvy. There’s no mystery here; the reader knows exactly what happened. The question is, what’s next? Will the perpetrator be found? What will happen to our protagonists? After a sometimes slow-moving first half, Sarah Waters picks up the narrative pace and fills it with period detail, drawing on various examples of 1920s true crime stories. Emotions run high, and the relationships that formed early on are tested to their limits, as the characters struggle with moral dilemmas that no one should ever have to face.
I don’t want to reveal more about the story, since it’s much better to experience it without knowing much ahead of time. At 565 pages, this is a long book, but Waters’ powers of suspense made for a quick, page-turning read.
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couple. We meet them the day they move in, excitedly placing their furniture and knick-knacks around the flat. Frances and her mother wonder if they will adjust to the sound of footsteps overhead, and worry about the couple being noisy, or keeping late hours. They try to set the right tone for their landlord/tenant relationship -- simultaneously friendly and distant. However, as they go about their day-to-day activities and get to know one another better, the boundary lines are blurred, and relationships become … well … something more. But then a horrible crime turns their world topsy-turvy. There’s no mystery here; the reader knows exactly what happened. The question is, what’s next? Will the perpetrator be found? What will happen to our protagonists? After a sometimes slow-moving first half, Sarah Waters picks up the narrative pace and fills it with period detail, drawing on various examples of 1920s true crime stories. Emotions run high, and the relationships that formed early on are tested to their limits, as the characters struggle with moral dilemmas that no one should ever have to face.
I don’t want to reveal more about the story, since it’s much better to experience it without knowing much ahead of time. At 565 pages, this is a long book, but Waters’ powers of suspense made for a quick, page-turning read.
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LibraryThing member nbmars
Waters once again explores gender and class in a historical context, this time in the early years of post-World War I London.
With the men in their family having died in the war, Frances Wray (at 26, considered a “spinster”) and her mother have been forced to take in borders in their large house
Discussion: Waters is so good at capturing the nuances of gender roles and expectations, and of transferring them to relationships between two people of the same sex. She is also expert at conveying the bizarre and infuriating class conventions that were especially salient in earlier times. But in this book, I feel she goes too far, or rather, goes on for too long. In portraying the tedium of Frances’s life, for example, she takes us through the same mind-numbing routines day after day. Couldn’t she just show us one typical day? Similarly, she is so skilled at showing us the anxieties of the characters, and their moral equivocating, but must we hear about it over and over? I don’t think any of the carefully established moods of the story would have been lost by some editing.
The second problem I had was that I just could not like any of the characters, with the possible exception of Lilian’s mother. Frances’ mother is well-drawn, but so petulant and controlling as to make occupying the same metaphorical room with her a very unpleasant experience. Len Barber is repulsive in every aspect. Lilian and Frances are both weak and vacillating; perhaps a willingness to have a sapphic relationship is “brave” but in every other respect they seem to me to lack conviction.
In the second half of the novel the action takes a disturbing turn. The protagonists have a whole new reality with which to cope, and we readers must endure every twist and turn of their thinking. Yes, it’s masterfully done, but again, it’s done for too long. And I, for one, found the ending profoundly unsatisfying.
With the men in their family having died in the war, Frances Wray (at 26, considered a “spinster”) and her mother have been forced to take in borders in their large house
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for extra income. A young insurance clerk, Len Barber, and his bohemian wife Lilian come to stay in the house. Frances quickly discerns that the Barbers’ marriage isn’t a happy one. She becomes friends with Lilian, eventually confiding to her that she is attracted to women rather than to men. Frances becomes more and more obsessed with Lilian, and in a short time, Lilian seems to reciprocate. But what will they do about Frances’s mother and Lilian’s husband?Discussion: Waters is so good at capturing the nuances of gender roles and expectations, and of transferring them to relationships between two people of the same sex. She is also expert at conveying the bizarre and infuriating class conventions that were especially salient in earlier times. But in this book, I feel she goes too far, or rather, goes on for too long. In portraying the tedium of Frances’s life, for example, she takes us through the same mind-numbing routines day after day. Couldn’t she just show us one typical day? Similarly, she is so skilled at showing us the anxieties of the characters, and their moral equivocating, but must we hear about it over and over? I don’t think any of the carefully established moods of the story would have been lost by some editing.
The second problem I had was that I just could not like any of the characters, with the possible exception of Lilian’s mother. Frances’ mother is well-drawn, but so petulant and controlling as to make occupying the same metaphorical room with her a very unpleasant experience. Len Barber is repulsive in every aspect. Lilian and Frances are both weak and vacillating; perhaps a willingness to have a sapphic relationship is “brave” but in every other respect they seem to me to lack conviction.
In the second half of the novel the action takes a disturbing turn. The protagonists have a whole new reality with which to cope, and we readers must endure every twist and turn of their thinking. Yes, it’s masterfully done, but again, it’s done for too long. And I, for one, found the ending profoundly unsatisfying.
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LibraryThing member TooBusyReading
I loved the beginning of this Sarah Waters novel, the first I've read by this popular author. A young woman living with her widowed mother after WWI has to take in boarders just to keep afloat, barely managing at that.
The characters were interesting and and the story drew me in.
Sadly, that didn't
This is a long book, 564 pages in my advance readers copy, and likely close to that in the published edition. I would have made a nice 350 page book.
But, oh my, the angst! The clandestine meetings! The sex! The love! The drama! Over and over and over.
If I wanted soap opera, I'd turn on the TV.
The last third or so was more interesting, but in the end, I didn't care about any of the characters and therefore didn't care what happened to them.
My opinion will most likely be a minority opinion, and if you enjoy Ms. Waters writing, I don't want to discourage you from reading this novel, but it fell flat for me.
The characters were interesting and and the story drew me in.
Sadly, that didn't
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last. I guessed at the romance that was going to happen long before the characters seemed aware of it. And it was such a cliché.This is a long book, 564 pages in my advance readers copy, and likely close to that in the published edition. I would have made a nice 350 page book.
But, oh my, the angst! The clandestine meetings! The sex! The love! The drama! Over and over and over.
If I wanted soap opera, I'd turn on the TV.
The last third or so was more interesting, but in the end, I didn't care about any of the characters and therefore didn't care what happened to them.
My opinion will most likely be a minority opinion, and if you enjoy Ms. Waters writing, I don't want to discourage you from reading this novel, but it fell flat for me.
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LibraryThing member Citizenjoyce
A long, long slow drag up to the first drop of the roller coaster, then a thrilling plunge whipping around curves and through the loop the loop to the finish. If I didn't know how much I loved the author I probably would have abandoned the book, and it would have been my loss. She's done it again,
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managed to surprise me. The writing is gorgeous, especially the minutiae of the courtroom scenes and her character observations. After the disappointment of The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters is back again as one of my favorite authors. Show Less
LibraryThing member kremsa
I just finished listening to the audiobook narrated by Juliet Stevenson and I was sorry it ended. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters takes place in the a genteel community in England just after World War I. Mrs. Wray and her spinster daughter Frances are struggling to maintain the house following
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the deaths of the father and sons during the war. They rent rooms to a married couple, Lillian and Leonard Barber, to help cover their expenses and life takes a dramatic turn as a result. Ms. Waters writes quite eloquently. Her prose is lush with detailed character descriptions that brings to mind Anne Tyler's work. The narration by Stevenson was exceptional. She gave a different voice to each of the characters and I felt as if I were watching a movie in my head; in fact this would make a great BBC/PBS film! Show Less
LibraryThing member bcquinnsmom
Thank you, PsTB at LT, and thank you Riverhead! I am having trouble deciding on a star rating -- I'm waffling between 4 and 4.5, so let's just split the difference and go with 4.25, reasons below.
Frances Wray and her mother live in a "neighborhood of grand houses" on Champion Hill in Camberwell.
And then there are the characters, especially Frances -- who at 26 is a "spinster," living at home with her mother, taking care of the house, wearing sort of frumpy garb, and who is at heart a very lonely person. She and her mother have established routines; once in a while when Frances is alone, she'll go off to Town to visit her friend Christina, who has her own flat that she shares with a roommate. Christina and roommate Stevie are more modern in their outlooks, going off now and then to lectures or meetings. Frances, a pacifist who used to be a bit more political, would also love to be autonomous and to have her own flat as well, but as she notes, she's never done anything brave in her life. Sometimes she is careless, but more than often she errs on the side of caution, while sort of resenting it underneath. She also makes a point to do un-spinterish types of things once in a while. When she decides to become friends with Lilian Barber, a sort of bohemian-minded, free-spirited woman who has some found a measure of freedom living in the Wray home, Lilian more or less leads Frances to step out of herself and to shrug off her expected, "settled-in" role. The Barbers are magnificently drawn as well, but just as you think you are getting to know them, there are a number of surprises in store.
I truly loved this novel -- there's so much here that I don't have space or time to discuss (such as the wonderful foreshadowings), or the motifs used throughout the novel (for example, thread), but quite frankly, I was so dismayed at the ending. Right up until the very last page I was glued to this page turner, but I didn't like how the author ended it. I can't say why without ruining things, but considering all that had happened before, it sort of didn't make a lot of sense. Feel free to disagree, but that's the basis for the waffle on my part. Otherwise, I can't recommend this book highly enough. I loved it so much I bought an autographed copy for my home library. I won't say that I'm amazed at how good this book is -- Sarah Waters has long been one of my favorite authors and with The Paying Guests, she's made me a happier reader once again.
Frances Wray and her mother live in a "neighborhood of grand houses" on Champion Hill in Camberwell.
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The men in their house are all dead -- Frances' two brothers died while fighting in World War I, and Frances' father passed away not too long afterwards. Frances tends to the house herself, since the servants left them to go work in munitions factories, and because her father had so badly mismanaged the family funds that they find themselves needing a way to keep themselves going. Frances decides to take in lodgers (called "paying guests" on Champion Hill), and in come young Lilian Barber and her husband Leonard. Well, you can get that much from the blurb, along with the idea that somehow the "paying guests" have a huge impact on Frances' life from the time they move in. The story of how this happens is excellent, although to give it away would be shameful on my part; let's just say that starting from Part Two of this novel, things got so incredibly tense that I would often have to get up, walk away, and do something else before coming back to it. But running underneath all of the growing suspense and ultimately the horror Ms. Waters evokes in this novel with her incredible writing is also a depiction of the changes that have occurred since the War -- a look at the shifting social landscape of this period four years after the war is over. There continue to be class distinctions, but now people in the so-called "clerk class" find themselves rising monetarily and respectability-wise. The "genteel" class, of which Frances and her mother are a part, are still respected, but there are people like the Wrays who have to face humiliation and the curiosity of their neighbors by taking in lodgers, even while still casting aspersions on the lower classes. Women are in the workplace, whereas ex-soldiers who need to feed themselves and their families often have little options for making a living, often resorting to crime out of their frustration and poverty. Intellectually, Bolshevism is a hot topic, and the Bloomsbury set is quite the elite group of writers, although previously valued "avant-garde" art is being bypassed for more conservative works among those who can afford it. And then there are the characters, especially Frances -- who at 26 is a "spinster," living at home with her mother, taking care of the house, wearing sort of frumpy garb, and who is at heart a very lonely person. She and her mother have established routines; once in a while when Frances is alone, she'll go off to Town to visit her friend Christina, who has her own flat that she shares with a roommate. Christina and roommate Stevie are more modern in their outlooks, going off now and then to lectures or meetings. Frances, a pacifist who used to be a bit more political, would also love to be autonomous and to have her own flat as well, but as she notes, she's never done anything brave in her life. Sometimes she is careless, but more than often she errs on the side of caution, while sort of resenting it underneath. She also makes a point to do un-spinterish types of things once in a while. When she decides to become friends with Lilian Barber, a sort of bohemian-minded, free-spirited woman who has some found a measure of freedom living in the Wray home, Lilian more or less leads Frances to step out of herself and to shrug off her expected, "settled-in" role. The Barbers are magnificently drawn as well, but just as you think you are getting to know them, there are a number of surprises in store.
I truly loved this novel -- there's so much here that I don't have space or time to discuss (such as the wonderful foreshadowings), or the motifs used throughout the novel (for example, thread), but quite frankly, I was so dismayed at the ending. Right up until the very last page I was glued to this page turner, but I didn't like how the author ended it. I can't say why without ruining things, but considering all that had happened before, it sort of didn't make a lot of sense. Feel free to disagree, but that's the basis for the waffle on my part. Otherwise, I can't recommend this book highly enough. I loved it so much I bought an autographed copy for my home library. I won't say that I'm amazed at how good this book is -- Sarah Waters has long been one of my favorite authors and with The Paying Guests, she's made me a happier reader once again.
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LibraryThing member jmchshannon
In The Paying Guests, Ms. Waters ditches all mentions of the supernatural and hints of the otherworldly in favor of crime fiction with a little history and a whole lot of unconventional love story thrown into the mix. The story itself tends to meander slowly through Frances’ world, exposing
While it appears as if there is a lot going on within The Paying Guests, in reality the story is very ponderous and even sometimes boring. There are a lot of pages devoted to Frances’ confusion about her relationship with Lilian or the many regrets in her life. When the story finally gains traction and interest starts to build that some sort of action will occur, it quickly stutters to a halt as the novel devolves into yet more hand-wringing and anxiety-laden nights. Frances loses what little sympathy she generates as she continues to remain passive when there is nothing passive about her.
One could consider Frances to be nothing more than a product of her times. The types of relationships for which she yearns and the kind of life she wants to lead are not acceptable in society, and as the sole caretaker of her mother and the family house/land, it is especially important she remain within societal constraints. However, as Frances reminisces about her past behaviors, readers realize that docility is not her forte. In fact, much of her angst revolves around her chafing at the constraints to which she bound herself rather than living the life she wants to live. The disconnect between how she acts and who she is should be a point of interest within the story. Instead, it is merely a frustration for readers that this strong-willed and independence-minded woman chooses to bind herself so tightly to the past.
Granted, the story does take place during a time when large family estates were rapidly disappearing and society was moving towards a less formal, more egalitarian society – as much as Britain will ever be one, and Frances does embody this tension. However, outside of Frances, no other mention of such tensions occur. There is plenty of passing talk about homeless veterans and the tough times that befell almost all servicemen upon returning home from the war, but the talk is limited to generalities. There is no close examination or even political discussion of the changing times. The trial may be the closest a reader will ever get to a window into the debate, but even that is just background noise to Frances’ and Lilian’s growing agitation and compounding fear and guilt.
When all is said and done, The Paying Guests is a disappointment. Readers who are fans of Ms. Waters’ previous novels will miss the little Gothic touches she typically adds to her stories. The amount of words and space devoted to microscopic examinations of Frances’ feelings and resentments stultifies the story, and there is a distinct lost opportunity to explore the political, economic, and social changes occurring in and around London after World War I. The crime adds only minor excitement to a novel that tends towards the pedantic. The tensions between past and present, old and young, are interesting but not nearly enough to redeem the entire story.
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readers to her self-established limitations and subsequent frustrations. The historical elements of post-war London are nothing more than a backdrop as Frances works through her issues as a landlady and as one of the last two remaining family members. The love story tends to be the focal point of the story, as it simultaneously spotlights Frances’ differences among a world that is trying to keep its traditions and rigid social customs and is also the origination point of the crime story aspect.While it appears as if there is a lot going on within The Paying Guests, in reality the story is very ponderous and even sometimes boring. There are a lot of pages devoted to Frances’ confusion about her relationship with Lilian or the many regrets in her life. When the story finally gains traction and interest starts to build that some sort of action will occur, it quickly stutters to a halt as the novel devolves into yet more hand-wringing and anxiety-laden nights. Frances loses what little sympathy she generates as she continues to remain passive when there is nothing passive about her.
One could consider Frances to be nothing more than a product of her times. The types of relationships for which she yearns and the kind of life she wants to lead are not acceptable in society, and as the sole caretaker of her mother and the family house/land, it is especially important she remain within societal constraints. However, as Frances reminisces about her past behaviors, readers realize that docility is not her forte. In fact, much of her angst revolves around her chafing at the constraints to which she bound herself rather than living the life she wants to live. The disconnect between how she acts and who she is should be a point of interest within the story. Instead, it is merely a frustration for readers that this strong-willed and independence-minded woman chooses to bind herself so tightly to the past.
Granted, the story does take place during a time when large family estates were rapidly disappearing and society was moving towards a less formal, more egalitarian society – as much as Britain will ever be one, and Frances does embody this tension. However, outside of Frances, no other mention of such tensions occur. There is plenty of passing talk about homeless veterans and the tough times that befell almost all servicemen upon returning home from the war, but the talk is limited to generalities. There is no close examination or even political discussion of the changing times. The trial may be the closest a reader will ever get to a window into the debate, but even that is just background noise to Frances’ and Lilian’s growing agitation and compounding fear and guilt.
When all is said and done, The Paying Guests is a disappointment. Readers who are fans of Ms. Waters’ previous novels will miss the little Gothic touches she typically adds to her stories. The amount of words and space devoted to microscopic examinations of Frances’ feelings and resentments stultifies the story, and there is a distinct lost opportunity to explore the political, economic, and social changes occurring in and around London after World War I. The crime adds only minor excitement to a novel that tends towards the pedantic. The tensions between past and present, old and young, are interesting but not nearly enough to redeem the entire story.
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LibraryThing member dpappas
You said something to me once, I have never forgotten it, you said I like to be admired, do you remember? You said I would love anybody who admired me. Dont hate this hard thing I am about to say my darling but sometimes I think its you that would love anybody.
I don't want to give too much away
While reading this book I alternated between being frustrated with Frances and having pity for her. I was frustrated with her because I felt like she could have had a better life if she had really tried. I also pitied her because she had what seemed to be a boring and simple life. She had such strong feelings towards another character way too fast that it seemed more of restlessness with her life more than true feelings. Leonard and Lilian also were pretty frustrating at times. Lilian especially frustrated me because I always felt she was hiding something or holding something back.
The first half of the book went really slow. There was a lot of story building and character development in the first half and at times it made the book feel really long. The second half of the book had a much faster pace as some pretty important things happen. The book didn't feel too long during the second half. I felt a bit conflicted about the events at the end as I was happy with some aspects of it but I wasn't really happy with how certain characters ended up. I would recommend this book if you like strong story telling and don't mind a lot of story building.
I received this book from a Librarything Early Reviewers giveaway. That does not affect the content of my review.
I don't want to give too much away
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about this book so some parts of my review might be a bit vague. The main character, Frances, still lives at home with her mother when they are forced to take borders in their house due to their lack of money. World War I has ended and they are the only two members of the family that are still alive. When Leonard and Lilian Barber come to live with Frances and her mother, none of them can foresee how their lives will take a drastic turn.While reading this book I alternated between being frustrated with Frances and having pity for her. I was frustrated with her because I felt like she could have had a better life if she had really tried. I also pitied her because she had what seemed to be a boring and simple life. She had such strong feelings towards another character way too fast that it seemed more of restlessness with her life more than true feelings. Leonard and Lilian also were pretty frustrating at times. Lilian especially frustrated me because I always felt she was hiding something or holding something back.
The first half of the book went really slow. There was a lot of story building and character development in the first half and at times it made the book feel really long. The second half of the book had a much faster pace as some pretty important things happen. The book didn't feel too long during the second half. I felt a bit conflicted about the events at the end as I was happy with some aspects of it but I wasn't really happy with how certain characters ended up. I would recommend this book if you like strong story telling and don't mind a lot of story building.
I received this book from a Librarything Early Reviewers giveaway. That does not affect the content of my review.
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LibraryThing member banjo123
This book just didn’t work for me. It’s too long, the story gets bogged down into details, the characters are unpleasant, and I hated the ending.
The book is a historical, lesbian suspense novel. The first 2/3 of the book is wholly without suspense, and mostly consists of details of daily life
The book is a historical, lesbian suspense novel. The first 2/3 of the book is wholly without suspense, and mostly consists of details of daily life
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in post-WWI London. There is a romance, but it seems doomed to failure. Then things pick up for the last third. I think that if the book had been streamlined, it would have been interesting, as Water’s has great insights on inter-personal relationships in a homophobic and sexist culture. But at 564 pages, I felt that I put more into reading this book than I got out. Show Less
LibraryThing member thiscatsabroad
This book required a better editor.
LibraryThing member JudithDCollins
The Paying Guests, Sarah Waters latest novel is a complex historical fiction with twists of gripping psychological narrative of love, crime, and much drama.
Set in England, postwar in 1922, as a background two brothers are killed in WWI and debt-ridden father followed soon after. Leading a former
As anyone would know, it is difficult to lead separate lives from your boarders as they are always in the house with their presence, as they become disruptive to the normal schedule or become part of the family unit.
The tenants, a young couple, Leonard and Lilian Barber take up the upper floor. (they become a little of both) They are not the type of people the mother and daughter would typically associate with, as a lower class.
They begin to become disruptive to the household, and Leonard often says off-color things, and Frances begins to observe some tensions in the couple’s relationship. While Leonard is at work as an insurance clerk, Frances develops an attraction to beautiful Lily, and soon they develop a mutual attraction.
As the lesbian couple’s love affair grows, a dangerous situation develops. Lost in their passion, they began planning and scheming to be together. An accidental murder is committed and an innocent man is arrested for the crime, the two women are face to face, with a horrible moral crisis, fearful; full of guilt and shame, instead of the freedom they so desired.
A murder investigation and trial begins, full of gripping emotion with a very slow pace which drags out. It was rather boring and bland, and to be honest did not hold my attention. The first half of the book slowly builds the suspense as Frances falls for the beautiful and passionate Lily, with the cat and mouse game, desperate, tempting and teasing, sexual tension, deciding if they feel the same way about one another.
When they do, the tension and lust heat up, they plan ways to be together in the house as their affair continues. The second half is about the act of violence, the crime, the investigation, and the fallout.
I think the book had some good parts, with the historical and social aspects, the romance, the crime with some good writing and suspense; however, I wanted to fast forward, as the voice was so slow; it appeared as whining and repeating. I read at such a fast pace, I get impatient if a book drags, as have so many ARCs to read. A book has to capture me. This was my first book by Waters, so did not have the prior books to compare to.
This is a very complex and rather intriguing book to read and to review (you have to read it to understand). Possibly because I was listening to the audiobook and caught myself rewinding (to catch something I missed, and wanting to fast forward to get on with it – overall frustrating).
Not sure if it was the narrator, the sinister and dark part of the novel, or just the slow dragging pace. I have read positive and negative reviews, so will make it middle of the road, as would recommend e-book or print, as feel this type of book deserves a higher rating, for the writing style, versus audio format.
Set in England, postwar in 1922, as a background two brothers are killed in WWI and debt-ridden father followed soon after. Leading a former
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upper class life, in an upscale South London neighborhood the mother and her twenty-seven year old spinster, former activist daughter, Frances are left with no other choice but to take in (guests), boarders or lodgers, in order to maintain the grand house and its upkeep. The servants are gone, as is the wealth and money. It is left up to these ladies to pay the bills with limited resources.As anyone would know, it is difficult to lead separate lives from your boarders as they are always in the house with their presence, as they become disruptive to the normal schedule or become part of the family unit.
The tenants, a young couple, Leonard and Lilian Barber take up the upper floor. (they become a little of both) They are not the type of people the mother and daughter would typically associate with, as a lower class.
They begin to become disruptive to the household, and Leonard often says off-color things, and Frances begins to observe some tensions in the couple’s relationship. While Leonard is at work as an insurance clerk, Frances develops an attraction to beautiful Lily, and soon they develop a mutual attraction.
As the lesbian couple’s love affair grows, a dangerous situation develops. Lost in their passion, they began planning and scheming to be together. An accidental murder is committed and an innocent man is arrested for the crime, the two women are face to face, with a horrible moral crisis, fearful; full of guilt and shame, instead of the freedom they so desired.
A murder investigation and trial begins, full of gripping emotion with a very slow pace which drags out. It was rather boring and bland, and to be honest did not hold my attention. The first half of the book slowly builds the suspense as Frances falls for the beautiful and passionate Lily, with the cat and mouse game, desperate, tempting and teasing, sexual tension, deciding if they feel the same way about one another.
When they do, the tension and lust heat up, they plan ways to be together in the house as their affair continues. The second half is about the act of violence, the crime, the investigation, and the fallout.
I think the book had some good parts, with the historical and social aspects, the romance, the crime with some good writing and suspense; however, I wanted to fast forward, as the voice was so slow; it appeared as whining and repeating. I read at such a fast pace, I get impatient if a book drags, as have so many ARCs to read. A book has to capture me. This was my first book by Waters, so did not have the prior books to compare to.
This is a very complex and rather intriguing book to read and to review (you have to read it to understand). Possibly because I was listening to the audiobook and caught myself rewinding (to catch something I missed, and wanting to fast forward to get on with it – overall frustrating).
Not sure if it was the narrator, the sinister and dark part of the novel, or just the slow dragging pace. I have read positive and negative reviews, so will make it middle of the road, as would recommend e-book or print, as feel this type of book deserves a higher rating, for the writing style, versus audio format.
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LibraryThing member csoki637
What a stressful book to read! A sudden turn, from its slow, careful, comfortable beginning. I read it knowing nothing of the plot, only that it was set in the 1920s, and I don't intend on giving any more away. Just the thrilling accuracy of Sarah Waters's descriptions — small cruelties to large
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ones, the intensity of romance and pain, everyday sentimentalities, guilt and sacrifice — and the seemingly endless psychological terror the novel immersed me into. A riveting read, but not one to brighten your day. Show Less
LibraryThing member Baochuan
Mixed feeling about this book, it is not really a murder mystery, more about relationship and drama. Great description of the characters.
LibraryThing member idiotgirl
Not my favorite Waters book. It seemed to go on and on at times. But I did enjoy the relationship between the two women, sense of time and place especially. Interesting the way she decides to play out the issues of guilt and innocence in the death of the husband that animates the story. Audible
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book. Show Less
LibraryThing member arielfl
The first half of the novel is Frances resenting the tenants she has taken in in order to keep her house. Then she stops resenting one at least. If you have read a Sarah Waters novel in the past you can probably guess why. The first half moved too slowly for me but once the story picked up I became
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engrossed. Show Less
LibraryThing member CelticLibrarian
Frances Wray and her widowed mother live in genteel poverty on Champion Hill -- it's just south of London and still considered a fashionable district in 1922. Unfortunately, Mr. Wray died with substantial debt and the two women are forced to acquire paying guests to sustain their quiet lives
I vacillated between a 3 and a 4 rating on this one and settled for 3.5 -- I haven't felt this ambiguous about a novel for quite some time. That said, the slow buildup and the storyline were enough to keep me coming back for more even as I was wishing that Waters would step up the pace of the narrative and move along, stop repeating herself, and get to the end a little faster. That's not to say that I found this tale suspenseful even though I think it is meant to be. It was more like having something continuously dangled nearby but out of reach almost to the point of frustration and annoyance. This was not a mystery, per se, as the reader knows exactly what happened but it takes a slow, infuriating and somewhat exasperating while to get to the climax. The resolution was absolutely fitting even as I was on tenterhooks as I continued reading even faster to see if the author would make that choice.
I've read a couple of this author's other books and always enjoy her unique stories and settings. I'd recommend this to fans of Sarah Waters and those who enjoy a bit of sinister with their afternoon tea.
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without hired help or funds for upkeep of the decaying house. The young, new renters, Leonard and Lilian Barber, take up residence in rooms on the upper floor and soon create a seismic shift in the lives of the homeowners. Frances, in particular, finds herself caught up in a sudden new passion as she watches the tenants, does the chores, and tries to maintain the sparsely furnished spaces where she and her mother languish. While Leonard is at work as an insurance clerk, Frances and Lilian forge a relationship that invariably leads to a crime, an unanticipated challenge, a moral dilemma, and a quandary with implications that mean the difference between being caught in a trap or gaining freedom. I vacillated between a 3 and a 4 rating on this one and settled for 3.5 -- I haven't felt this ambiguous about a novel for quite some time. That said, the slow buildup and the storyline were enough to keep me coming back for more even as I was wishing that Waters would step up the pace of the narrative and move along, stop repeating herself, and get to the end a little faster. That's not to say that I found this tale suspenseful even though I think it is meant to be. It was more like having something continuously dangled nearby but out of reach almost to the point of frustration and annoyance. This was not a mystery, per se, as the reader knows exactly what happened but it takes a slow, infuriating and somewhat exasperating while to get to the climax. The resolution was absolutely fitting even as I was on tenterhooks as I continued reading even faster to see if the author would make that choice.
I've read a couple of this author's other books and always enjoy her unique stories and settings. I'd recommend this to fans of Sarah Waters and those who enjoy a bit of sinister with their afternoon tea.
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LibraryThing member kgallagher625
Frances Wray lives in poverty with her mother in post World War I London. She lost two brothers in the war, and her father died later, leaving Frances and her mother in poverty. In order to keep their house, they take in a couple as boarders, or "paying guests," as they call them.
The Barbers,
I have read several Sarah Waters ' novels, so I knew to expect a very slow buildup to the story. I didn't mind that because I love the way Waters writes. I also loved her portrayal of the characters, even though a couple of them remained mysterious to me. The verisimilitude was outstanding, as usual in a Waters novel. Overall, an interesting and enjoyable read.
The Barbers,
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Leonard and Lillian, are a young couple of lower class than the Wrays. After an awkward period of adjustment to living in the same house, Frances and Lillian become friends. Then things go out of control.I have read several Sarah Waters ' novels, so I knew to expect a very slow buildup to the story. I didn't mind that because I love the way Waters writes. I also loved her portrayal of the characters, even though a couple of them remained mysterious to me. The verisimilitude was outstanding, as usual in a Waters novel. Overall, an interesting and enjoyable read.
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LibraryThing member starbox
"This life, the life I have now...it isn't the life I was meant to have It isn't the life I want.", September 11, 2014
This review is from: The Paying Guests (Kindle Edition)
As expected, this was a really compulsive read. Sarah waters takes as inspiration the various horrific crimes of the 20s and
Frances Wray, a dowdy 26 yr old, lives - and housekeeps- for her widowed mother. Both her brothers died in the war, and Frances feels duty-bound to sacrifice her life and wishes for the sake of Mother. When circumstances force them to take in a young couple as paying guests, it is with reluctance that she accepts it...
Sarah Waters creates a convincing backdrop to events: women still silently grieving lost menfolk; the unemployed ex-soldiers; a society where some still espouse Victorian values and others are modern in outlook.
The first half contained, for me, a bit much kissing and groping. But the second half leaves the reader unable to put the book down, wondering how it'll all pan out...
This review is from: The Paying Guests (Kindle Edition)
As expected, this was a really compulsive read. Sarah waters takes as inspiration the various horrific crimes of the 20s and
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30s - Thompson & Bywaters; Rattenbury & Stoner - but the plot here is all her own.Frances Wray, a dowdy 26 yr old, lives - and housekeeps- for her widowed mother. Both her brothers died in the war, and Frances feels duty-bound to sacrifice her life and wishes for the sake of Mother. When circumstances force them to take in a young couple as paying guests, it is with reluctance that she accepts it...
Sarah Waters creates a convincing backdrop to events: women still silently grieving lost menfolk; the unemployed ex-soldiers; a society where some still espouse Victorian values and others are modern in outlook.
The first half contained, for me, a bit much kissing and groping. But the second half leaves the reader unable to put the book down, wondering how it'll all pan out...
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LibraryThing member rhussey174
I thought the first half was a little slowly plotted, but in the second half the pace picked up and the book became much more exciting. I still think Fingersmith is my favorite Waters novel, but I ended up enjoying this one by the end. Good historical fiction, a complicated love story, a novel
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about ... well, I don't want to give away the plot. Show Less
LibraryThing member CynthiaRobertson
Pressed for money, Frances Wray and her mother rent out a room in their crumbling old, London suburb home. The war has taken all their men, first Frances’ two brothers, then her father to a heart attack—though not before the latter could impoverish them with a series of bad investments. It’s
Frances finds she is uncomfortable with the young newlywed tenants, Lillian and Leonard, who are not quite who they seemed at the interview. She’s especially tense around the husband, with his jaunty whistling and yodeling yawns, and with his invasion into her space; he stops to chat on his way to and from the backyard WC, leaning against the door jam in her kitchen and watching her, his conversation laced with innuendo. To Francis he seems ‘pleased with himself, a cock among hens’. The wife turns out to be a bit of an imposter, but what a fascinating one, with her cultivated accents so different from her huge and rambunctious family when they visit, and her ‘bohemian’ ways; Frances finds herself drawn to waif-like Lilian.
Tension builds through the careful compilation of detail. Frances spares her mother the harsh reality of their true financial situation, by doing ‘the worst’ of the chores while Mrs. Wray is away at her charity meetings, or playing cards with the wealthy and outspoken Mrs. Playfair. When Mrs. Wray is home, mother and daughter are often together in the parlor, quietly reading or playing cards, while every sound from the tenants above their heads jolts them from their somnambulant ‘good class’ routine, and reminds Francis, a ‘spinster’ in her mid-twenties, of what she is missing in the wider world of her life prior to the death of her father, and the choices his demise thrust upon her.
Quote: Worse even than the thought of it, however, worse than the laughter and the dancing-halls, worse than anything, were the routine casual intimacies of married life: Leonard waiting for Lilian at the bottom of the stairs, calling, ‘Come on, woman!’; Lilian straightening his waistcoat—little husband-and-wifely moments which Frances might glimpse or overhear as she made her way through the house, and which, if she came upon them unreadied, could strike at her like blows to the heart.
I’ve never read any Sarah Waters previously, but with The Paying Guests she can count me among her fans. The interior life of the viewpoint character, Francis, is so well rendered; at times I liked her, and at others I grew frustrated with her choices and way of looking at things. But I was never bored by her. With the character of Leonard particularly, Waters achieves a sly feat: at times we see him through our own eyes, his actions those of a typical man of his era, and at others we see him as Francis sees him. Frances, we learn, is not an entirely unbiased observer—she has her secrets, and a past. She’s a woman trapped in a post Victorian society that makes neither room nor acceptance for women who don’t fit the mold.
My favorite line in the book: ‘A man’s not safe.’ Its perfect placement, its subtlety, its snort-worthy irony, its freight-load of foreshadowing; set beside the innocence with which the four words are spoken—all make it the fulcrum on which the novel turns.
If you like deeply interior novels full of suspense, crime novels, historicals, or love stories—this one has it all.
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still early enough in the last century, 1922, for it to be difficult for a woman to earn the means to live comfortably. The servants are gone. Mother and daughter bathe only once a week, with shared water in the pantry bathtub, the water heated in a gas ‘geyser’ that has to be hand lit—just one of the many period and regional details in this fat historical.Frances finds she is uncomfortable with the young newlywed tenants, Lillian and Leonard, who are not quite who they seemed at the interview. She’s especially tense around the husband, with his jaunty whistling and yodeling yawns, and with his invasion into her space; he stops to chat on his way to and from the backyard WC, leaning against the door jam in her kitchen and watching her, his conversation laced with innuendo. To Francis he seems ‘pleased with himself, a cock among hens’. The wife turns out to be a bit of an imposter, but what a fascinating one, with her cultivated accents so different from her huge and rambunctious family when they visit, and her ‘bohemian’ ways; Frances finds herself drawn to waif-like Lilian.
Tension builds through the careful compilation of detail. Frances spares her mother the harsh reality of their true financial situation, by doing ‘the worst’ of the chores while Mrs. Wray is away at her charity meetings, or playing cards with the wealthy and outspoken Mrs. Playfair. When Mrs. Wray is home, mother and daughter are often together in the parlor, quietly reading or playing cards, while every sound from the tenants above their heads jolts them from their somnambulant ‘good class’ routine, and reminds Francis, a ‘spinster’ in her mid-twenties, of what she is missing in the wider world of her life prior to the death of her father, and the choices his demise thrust upon her.
Quote: Worse even than the thought of it, however, worse than the laughter and the dancing-halls, worse than anything, were the routine casual intimacies of married life: Leonard waiting for Lilian at the bottom of the stairs, calling, ‘Come on, woman!’; Lilian straightening his waistcoat—little husband-and-wifely moments which Frances might glimpse or overhear as she made her way through the house, and which, if she came upon them unreadied, could strike at her like blows to the heart.
I’ve never read any Sarah Waters previously, but with The Paying Guests she can count me among her fans. The interior life of the viewpoint character, Francis, is so well rendered; at times I liked her, and at others I grew frustrated with her choices and way of looking at things. But I was never bored by her. With the character of Leonard particularly, Waters achieves a sly feat: at times we see him through our own eyes, his actions those of a typical man of his era, and at others we see him as Francis sees him. Frances, we learn, is not an entirely unbiased observer—she has her secrets, and a past. She’s a woman trapped in a post Victorian society that makes neither room nor acceptance for women who don’t fit the mold.
My favorite line in the book: ‘A man’s not safe.’ Its perfect placement, its subtlety, its snort-worthy irony, its freight-load of foreshadowing; set beside the innocence with which the four words are spoken—all make it the fulcrum on which the novel turns.
If you like deeply interior novels full of suspense, crime novels, historicals, or love stories—this one has it all.
Show Less
LibraryThing member melaniehope
This novel involves a widow and her daughter that take paying lodgers into their home during 1920's England. Frances is twenty six and still living at home with her mother. To make a bit of money to support their dwindling finances, they take in a married couple, Leonard and Lilian.
The story does
Although it has a slow start, the book begins to build and reach an edge of your seat thriller by the middle. Frances forms a bond with Lilian that she could not foresee how it would affect her life in such a profound way.
This tense, raw look at the consequences of an unfortunate incident will have you turning pages. I thought this was another great book by Sarah Waters. Her fans will not be disappointed.
I received a copy from First to Read.
The story does
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start off slowly. It is about 576 pages and the beginning seems to go on and on. I have read books by Sarah Waters before, so I enjoy her writing and I did not mind so much. But once in a while, I would wonder when "something" was going to happen.Although it has a slow start, the book begins to build and reach an edge of your seat thriller by the middle. Frances forms a bond with Lilian that she could not foresee how it would affect her life in such a profound way.
This tense, raw look at the consequences of an unfortunate incident will have you turning pages. I thought this was another great book by Sarah Waters. Her fans will not be disappointed.
I received a copy from First to Read.
Show Less
Media reviews
"Some novels are so good, so gripping or shattering that they leave you uncertain whether you should have ever started them. You open “The Paying Guests” and immediately surrender to the smooth assuredness of Sarah Waters’s silken prose. Nothing jars. You relax. You turn more pages. You start
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turning them faster. Before long, you resemble Coleridge’s Wedding-Guest: You cannot choose but read. The book has you in thrall. You will follow Waters and her story anywhere. Yet when that story ends, you find yourself emotionally sucked dry, as much stunned as exhilarated by the power of art." Show Less
The superbly talented Sarah Waters — three times shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize — leads her readers into hidden worlds, worlds few of us knew existed. And so it is with The Paying Guests. ..Amid this heart-crushing drama, uncaring London grinds on, a cacophony of “hooves, voices,
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hurrying steps, the clash and grinding of iron wheels” that threatens to destroy the hopes of summer: an utterly engrossing tale. Show Less
Novel tackles big themes but lacks bite...Yet the love story’s progression – to say more would give too much away – is not entirely convincing by the end..Characterisation has a hint of familiarity, as if characters have been derived from Waters’ bank of past creations, and they lose some
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of their gleam for it, though the story stays emotionally-charged... Show Less
The Paying Guests, Sarah Waters' superb, bewitching new novel, is set in 1922 London...My only quibble with The Paying Guests is its length; the last hundred pages or so chronicle a court trial and feel padded, the first time I've ever had that reaction to a Sarah Waters novel. Otherwise, this is a
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magnificent creation, a book that doubles as a time machine, flinging us back not only to postwar London, but also to our own lost love affairs, the kind that left us breathless — and far too besotted to notice that we had somehow misplaced our moral compass. Show Less
This fascinating domestic scenario might have made for an absorbing short novel;... Its pastiche propriety and faux-Edwardian prose (people are forever "colouring" and "crimsoning" and "putting themselves tidy") become irritants; and the novel's descent into melodrama as a murder is committed –
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and the inspector called – turns this engaging literary endeavour into a tiresome soap opera....Waters's unusual gift for drama and for social satire is squandered on the production of middlebrow entertainment:.. it would be good to see Waters produce something corrective and sharp, in which her authoritative and incisive dramatic style was permitted to be sufficient satisfaction on its own. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
ISBN
0349004609 / 9780349004600
Physical description
599 p.; 5.08 inches
Pages
599