The Paying Guests

 Sarah Waters

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Historical Fiction + LGBTQ+

Initial Impression
I bought this book from Book Depository in 2018 when I found it in the bargain bin. A hardcover edition in the bargain bin was something hard to pass up—especially since I heard lots of great things about Sarah Waters’ writing, so this was a good opportunity for me to get one of her books to experience her writing style myself. For no particular reason, the book stayed on my shelf unread since then. When it appeared on my “Physical Books to Tackle” challenge on the wheel of TBR, I was so excited to dive into it.

Summary
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters is a story set in South London in 1922. The story revolves around Frances and her mother. The two ladies are struggling with their financial situation after the funds were mishandled by the father. After he passed away, they were left with nothing but debts and the large house they owned.

The best way for them to survive during these difficult circumstances was to take in lodgers. So they accept a young married couple, Leonard Barber and his wife, Lilian. At first Frances has a sense of panic and unease towards the couple, but soon things start to change when she becomes friends with Lilian, and eventually things will get more complicated.

Characters
The author did a great job with the characters. They are multifaceted, and as the reader progresses in the story, they get to know more about the other side of them, which was not apparent in the beginning.

Frances Wray: She is one of the two main protagonists. A single woman in her late twenties living with her widowed mother in a large house. She handles everything now that her father has passed and left them nothing but debts. As you progress in the story, you will learn that she had a past love affair with a woman named Christina.

Lilian Barber: Leonard’s wife and the other main protagonist in the story. She is 22 years old, stylish, and has exotic tastes. She forms an intense bond with Frances that at first she finds difficult to understand.

Mrs. Wray: She is Frances’s mother. A widow in her fifties who is also struggling financially. Her initial fondness for Mr. Barber creates a good contrast to what her daughter feels about him.

Leonard Barber: He’s Lilian’s husband. Works in an insurance company and annoys Frances with his suggestive remarks towards her.

Writing Style
The novel is narrated in the third-person style. I feel the author deliberately concentrated on Frances’s thoughts and feelings in the narration. It seems her perspective is the main focus of the story. Being my first Sarah Waters’ book, I think her writing is rich and she uses a descriptive language style. Most of the narrative is about diving deeply into Frances’s thoughts so that as readers we see the relationship from her eyes.

Setting and Atmosphere
The author did a good job depicting London in the 1920s. That historical atmosphere can be felt very clearly in the story. This is when it comes to the setting. When it comes to the narrative atmosphere, it keeps shifting according to the state of the characters. So it is safe to say that the atmosphere was highly dynamic, and it kept shifting from unease to intimacy to tension and finally to guilt and turmoil.

Overall Impression
If I were given one line to explain my feelings about this novel, it would be: I wish I liked it more. While the writing kept me engaged and shows the author’s expertise in her field, it took me a long time to feel invested in the story and the characters. The pacing is very slow, and to be frank, this story didn’t need over 500 pages to be told. 200 pages could be easily trimmed from the novel without affecting the story. I don’t own any other Sarah Waters book on my shelves—this is the only one—but even if I had more, I would not rush to read them.

Key Themes
- Forbidden Love and Desire

- Social Class

- LGBTQ Love

- Secrecy and Deception - Identity and Self-Discovery