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birdwatching 's review for:
The Paying Guests
by Sarah Waters
What a huge disappointment :( I have LOVED Sarah Waters in the past, she has a true knack of conjuring up the past without it feeling like she's whacking you in the face with her research, and the same is true of The Paying Guests - the period is evoked brilliantly, beautiful little details littered throughout the pages, along with the overarching themes - the old class world disintegrating, so too marriage, and so too the "seperate spheres". I usually love the way she combines the seemingly small into something of greater meaning. She's a great storyteller in essence. So why can I only give it one star, especially when so many other people are rating it so highly? A purely emotive reaction tbh. After an ok start, I just did not like a single thing about where this book went. Maybe it was an attempt to make a comment on the ways in which women and LGBTQI people were stifled and frightened during the period and how that led them to particular actions, but I just HATED the several pivotal decisions that the protragonists made, and the ending just made it even more disatisfactory for me. By the end, I didn't like a single one of the characters, and felt like I'd learned and enjoyed nothing of the book. Sorely disappointed after the wonderful experiences reading The Night Watch and Tipping the Velvet (far more entertaining novels, with wonderful VIVID characters and adventures).
Because I can't help but still love her as an author, here is the one small moment I really loved: "It was like a cure, being with Lilian. It made one feel like a piece of wax being cradled in a soft, warm palm."
Because I can't help but still love her as an author, here is the one small moment I really loved: "It was like a cure, being with Lilian. It made one feel like a piece of wax being cradled in a soft, warm palm."