A review by trillium39
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

4.0

In 1922, in London, a genteel widow and her old maid daughter are forced from financial need to rent out part of their house. Their boarders are a young married couple, and the first half of the book is largely taken up with the awkwardness mother and daughter feel at having people in their house and describing their settled routines and how they are self-conscious. After this slow build, the second half surprisingly turns into a what-will-happen-next reading experience. Overall, this reminded me of Emma Donoghue, but I was also curious how someone like Patricia Highsmith would have handled the same plot.