The Paying Guests

Locations
Call Number: Fiction / Waters, Sarah, Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Waters, Sarah
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Pittsfield Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Waters, Sarah	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Waters, Sarah	4-week checkout	Due 05-13-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Waters, Sarah	4-week checkout	Due 05-12-2024
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Waters, Sarah	4-week checkout	In transit
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Waters, Sarah	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Waters, Sarah	4-week checkout	On Shelf

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.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Slow-moving but worth the read submitted by eapearce on November 3, 2014, 8:58am The Paying Guests was my introduction to Sarah Waters' work and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it. The basic storyline is quite simple, but intriguing: forced to take in lodgers in the dire months after the end of World War I, Frances Wray and her mother are happy to find a seemingly nice young couple to inhabit the upstairs apartment of their crumbling home outside of London. When Lilian and Leonard Barber arrive, Frances is immediately taken by Lilian with her colorful clothes and whimsical knickknacks. As the two women become closer, one would expect the story to rush toward its climax, but instead it takes over 300 pages for the "main event" to take place. I wasn't bored during all that time, per se, but I did keep thinking to myself that the story could have progressed much more quickly. It's difficult to categorize The Paying Guests into a particular genre. It's a romance without many romantic details, and a mystery that readers already know the answer to. I did think that the setting of the novel was unique and interesting: there are countless books set during the World Wars, but much fewer that focus on the depressing months and years afterwards, particularly in Europe after the first World War. Fans of Sarah Walters will certainly enjoy this book, and those who are unfamiliar with her writing should at least give it a shot.

Immersive and wonderfully written submitted by samanthar on June 17, 2015, 12:34pm Sarah Waters effortlessly takes readers deep into the Victorian home of the Wrays in 1922 London. Her writing is descriptive but not heavy; the dialog is insightful but not obvious. The characters are all well-rounded, realistic portrayals of what individuals were like during this time. I loved the book for all of these points, and would have still loved it if the plot was slow and nothing happened but the daily chores of the house. But things do happen in this book, and they are quite surprising. The plot is unique and unlike any other story I have come across. Without giving too much, this book is part romance, part crime and courtroom suspense. I wanted to stay in the world of Frances and her home, and couldn't put the book down.