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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
Frances and her mother are living in genteel poverty in their family home, a large house on Champion Hill which is an upper-middle class enclave of South London, close to Camberwell. After the loss of the male members of their household during and after the war, they have had to adjust to life without servants. Frances' Mother does not like to see Frances cleaning and cooking but, even with her efforts, they cannot manage and so decide to take in lodgers, the 'paying guests' of the title.
They rent out the first floor of their house to Mr and Mrs Barber, members of the 'clerk class' from working-class families. The presence of the Barbers causes changes to the dynamic on Champion Hill as the relationship between Frances and Lilian Barber develops. A tragedy throws them both closer together and further apart.
A new book by Sarah Waters is a great treat and, as ever, this is a wonderful book. Waters always looks at slightly grubby lives on the fringes of society. In this case the Wrays who have fallen on hard times but want to keep up appearances. Thrown into the mix is the nature of society post-WW1 and the emergence of the role of independent women. Of course there is the Sapphic element which is present in all Waters' books but, despite being a major plot device and plot driver, this isn't a 'lesbian' novel. In fact it is just a really terrific, tragic story which is beautifully told.
They rent out the first floor of their house to Mr and Mrs Barber, members of the 'clerk class' from working-class families. The presence of the Barbers causes changes to the dynamic on Champion Hill as the relationship between Frances and Lilian Barber develops. A tragedy throws them both closer together and further apart.
A new book by Sarah Waters is a great treat and, as ever, this is a wonderful book. Waters always looks at slightly grubby lives on the fringes of society. In this case the Wrays who have fallen on hard times but want to keep up appearances. Thrown into the mix is the nature of society post-WW1 and the emergence of the role of independent women. Of course there is the Sapphic element which is present in all Waters' books but, despite being a major plot device and plot driver, this isn't a 'lesbian' novel. In fact it is just a really terrific, tragic story which is beautifully told.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a fascinating read. It's almost like 3 different books in one-part manor house story, part torrid affair, part mystery. The Paying Guests is a slow starter, but a page-turner for the last 3rd of the book. I would definitely read Sarah Waters again!
Although this book started slow, once I got into it, I could hardly put it down. This is the first Sarah Waters book I've read, but it certainly won't be the last.
I liked it, especially the first half to three fourths. Last part lost me a little (too long). Juliet Stevenson is a fabulous narrator!
July 14, 2024: God, I think I'd forgotten just how tense the last half of this book is. I felt actively claustrophobic reading it, and turning the last page felt a little bit like crossing the finish line at a marathon. Not in a bad way, mind you, it's just an intense experience. Sarah Waters has an absolutely incredible way of fleshing out the past in a way that kind of spoils me for the majority of historical fiction out there.
I'm bumping this from a 5 star read to a 4.5 star read, only because of that ambiguously hopeful ending, which feels incredibly jarring after the last third or so of the book. I remembered with this re-read how much Frances and Lillian don't seem to actually like each other. They need each other, yes, but for the large part, their relationship seems to have sprung from convenience rather than emotional intimacy. I was rather rooting for this book to end entirely on a bleak note, and I'm frankly still confused why Waters chose to end the book with the hint of a potential reconciliation and happy ending.
December 29, 2015: I wasn't absolutely enamored with the last Sarah Waters book I read, Fingersmith, but one doesn't come across lesbian historical fiction nearly as often as one would like, and so I was nevertheless excited to read The Paying Guests. And. Wow. I tore through the last half of the book like a mad woman, half because I was trapped on an airplane, half because I genuinely needed to know how it ended. I found myself flipping ahead a few pages every so often because I couldn't bear the anticipation. I'm terribly glad I didn't spoil the book for myself, because it made the eventual crime a little more shocking and unexpected when it happened (ok, it wasn't entirely unexpected, but it took me a good while to realize what was going to happen). I have a few quibbles about the book - I thought it could have done with a bit of trimming (too much hand-wringing in the latter third of the book) but it was atmospheric and everything so I could forgive the length. I found the romance here better than that of Fingersmith (and the sex scenes much more satisfying) but by the time the book ended, I didn't understand what was drawing the two together anymore, other than loneliness (but I could have a whole discussion on the romance in this book). All in all, I'd happily recommend Sarah Waters to my sapphicly-inclined friends, if not just to have someone else to spill my feelings to.
A few random notes: I hate using "crisis" as a euphemism for orgasm. Really? A crisis? Also, there was one amazing quote that jumped out at me and which I absolutely needed to stop and deeply admire even as I was desperate to see what happened. I shall quote it in full here: "The scullery roof had sprung a leak: she put down a bowl to catch the drips, but the rainwater spread and darkened, to make treasure maps and Whistler nocturnes of the walls and ceiling." And also the cover is absolutely to die for - that design! that font! that woman!
I'm bumping this from a 5 star read to a 4.5 star read, only because of that ambiguously hopeful ending, which feels incredibly jarring after the last third or so of the book. I remembered with this re-read how much Frances and Lillian don't seem to actually like each other. They need each other, yes, but for the large part, their relationship seems to have sprung from convenience rather than emotional intimacy. I was rather rooting for this book to end entirely on a bleak note, and I'm frankly still confused why Waters chose to end the book with the hint of a potential reconciliation and happy ending.
December 29, 2015: I wasn't absolutely enamored with the last Sarah Waters book I read, Fingersmith, but one doesn't come across lesbian historical fiction nearly as often as one would like, and so I was nevertheless excited to read The Paying Guests. And. Wow. I tore through the last half of the book like a mad woman, half because I was trapped on an airplane, half because I genuinely needed to know how it ended. I found myself flipping ahead a few pages every so often because I couldn't bear the anticipation. I'm terribly glad I didn't spoil the book for myself, because it made the eventual crime a little more shocking and unexpected when it happened (ok, it wasn't entirely unexpected, but it took me a good while to realize what was going to happen). I have a few quibbles about the book - I thought it could have done with a bit of trimming (too much hand-wringing in the latter third of the book) but it was atmospheric and everything so I could forgive the length. I found the romance here better than that of Fingersmith (and the sex scenes much more satisfying) but by the time the book ended, I didn't understand what was drawing the two together anymore, other than loneliness (but I could have a whole discussion on the romance in this book). All in all, I'd happily recommend Sarah Waters to my sapphicly-inclined friends, if not just to have someone else to spill my feelings to.
A few random notes: I hate using "crisis" as a euphemism for orgasm. Really? A crisis? Also, there was one amazing quote that jumped out at me and which I absolutely needed to stop and deeply admire even as I was desperate to see what happened. I shall quote it in full here: "The scullery roof had sprung a leak: she put down a bowl to catch the drips, but the rainwater spread and darkened, to make treasure maps and Whistler nocturnes of the walls and ceiling." And also the cover is absolutely to die for - that design! that font! that woman!
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character