Set in post-WWI England, 'The Paying Guests' by Sarah Waters follows Frances Wrey and her widowed mother as they decide to take in lodgers for income. The married couple, Leonard and Lilian Barber, bring modernity and intrigue into the genteel household, leading to a curious relationship between Frances and Lilian. The story unfolds with shocking secrets, a murder, and a court case, creating a highly original and imaginative plot that delves into the complexities of relationships and societal norms in the 1920s.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings for The Paying Guests include discussions of violence, murder, abuse, and themes of social stigma surrounding sexuality.
Has Romance?
The book features a significant romance plot involving the main characters Frances and Lilian, with their relationship being a central focus.
From The Publisher:
The "volcanically sexy" (USA Today) bestseller about a widow and her daughter who take a young couple into their home in 1920s London.
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.
With the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the "clerk class," the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways. Little do the Wrays know just how profoundly their new tenants will alter the course of Frances's life-or, as passions mount and frustration gathers, how far-reaching, and how devastating, the disturbances will be.
Short-listed for the Man Booker Prize three times, Sarah Waters has earned a reputation as one of our greatest writers of historical fiction.
Ratings (18)
Incredible (3) | |
Loved It (7) | |
Liked It (5) | |
It Was OK (3) |
Reader Stats (43):
Read It (18) | |
Want To Read (15) | |
Did Not Finish (1) | |
Not Interested (9) |
3 comment(s)
Waters' writing fits smoothly nto mainstream fiction. She writes with depth, complex characters, clever plotting and so much historic detail. She's a gourmet meal.
In some parts inreally enjoy how itnwas written, how intertwined I got into the characters but I struggled with the last half of the book, which I remebers I did the last time too. The characters lost me somewhere on the way to the end but I still think I want to reread some of Sarah Waters other books again. 2.5 stars rounded up
4*
RTC
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The Paying Guests?
About the Author:
Sarah Waters is the New York Times bestselling author of The Paying Guests, The Little Stranger, The Night Watch, Fingersmith, Affinity, and Tipping the Velvet. She has been shortlisted three times for the Man Booker Prize, has been a finalist twice for the Orange Prize, and was named one of Granta's best young British novelists, among other…
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