The Paying Guests

Starred review from June 16, 2014
With two brothers killed in WWI and a debt-ridden father who followed them to the grave soon afterward, 27-year-old spinster Frances Wray knows that she and her mother must take in lodgers (euphemistically described as “paying guests”) to maintain their large house in a genteel section of London. In the postwar social landscape of England in 1922, the rise of a new middle class and the dwindling of the old servant class are disrupting longtime patterns of life. The disruptions occasioned by the advent of their tenants, the lower-class couple Leonard and Lilian Barber, are minor at first. But as Frances observes the tensions in the Barbers’ marriage and develops a sexual attraction for the beautiful Lily, who soon reciprocates her love, a fraught and dangerous situation develops. Lost in the passion of mutual ardor, Frances and Lily scheme to create a life together. An accidental murder they commit derails their plans and transforms the novel, already an absorbing character study, into an expertly paced and gripping psychological narrative. When an innocent man is arrested for the women’s crime, they face a terrible moral crisis, marked by guilt, shame, and fear. Readers of Waters’s previous novels know that she brings historical eras to life with consummate skill, rendering authentic details into layered portraits of particular times and places. Waters’s restrained, beautiful depiction of lesbian love furnishes the story with emotional depth, as does the suspense that develops during the tautly written murder investigation and ensuing trial. When Frances and Lily confront their radically altered existence, the narrative culminates in a breathtaking denouement. British writer Waters (The Little Stranger) deserves a large audience.

Starred review from August 1, 2014
An exquisitely tuned exploration of class in post-Edwardian Britain-with really hot sex. It's 1922, and Frances Wray lives with her mother in a big house in a genteel South London neighborhood. Her two brothers were killed in the war and her father died soon after, leaving behind a shocking mess of debt. The solution: renting out rooms to Leonard and Lilian Barber, members of the newly emerging "clerk class," the kind of people the Wrays would normally never mix with but who now share their home. Tension is high from the first paragraph, as Frances waits for the new lodgers to move in: "She and her mother had spent the morning watching the clock, unable to relax." The first half of the book slowly builds the suspense as Frances falls for the beautiful and passionate Lilian, and teases at the question of whether she will declare her love; when she does, the tension grows even thicker, as the two bump into each other all over the house and try to find time alone for those vivid sex scenes. The second half, as in an Ian McEwan novel, explores the aftermath of a shocking act of violence. Waters is a master of pacing, and her metaphor-laced prose is a delight; when Frances and Lilian go on a picnic, "the eggs [give] up their shells as if shrugging off cumbersome coats"-just like the women. As life-and-death questions are answered, new ones come up, and until the last page, the reader will have no idea what's going to happen. Waters keeps getting better, if that's even possible after the sheer perfection of her earlier novels.

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November 1, 2014
In 1922 London, newly widowed Mrs. Wray has the genteel manners and spacious manse common to her social set. But there isn't enough money for her and her spinster daughter, Frances, to live on, so they must take in lodgers. Enter the Barbers, a married couple who are looking to move up the social ladder. What sounds like a Jane Austen setup quickly segues from clashing manners to building sexual tension between Frances and the beautiful Lilian Barber. Waters ("Tipping the Velvet") leads listeners through hidden trysts, murderous plans, and a breathtaking courtroom denouement. This is a tale soaked in atmosphere and blessed with Waters's gimlet eye toward social (pre)tensions. Stage veteran Juliet Stevenson delivers a smartly paced, perceptive narration. VERDICT Recommended. ["For fans of complex historical crime fiction with a strong sense of dread," read the review of the Riverhead hc, "LJ" 7/14.]--Kelly Sinclair, Temple P.L., TX

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2014

Three-time Man Booker Prize finalist, two-time Orange Prize finalist, and one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists, Waters has earned the right to catch our eye with this next novel. In 1920s London, with the Great War having left families decimated, spinster Frances Wray and her widowed mother realize that to continue living in their grand house on Champion Hill, they must take in boarders. But they hadn't bargained for the disruption caused by the young couple who move in, which leads to love, crime, and deep insight into the changing times.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014

Frances Wray is a woman of limited opportunities stuck in genteel poverty in an England that has not quite recovered from World War I. When she and her mother begin renting out half of their house to the Barbers, the change is disruptive. The Barbers are lower class, a little noisy, and tacky. Leonard sometimes says off-color things to Frances; Lilian is pretty but unhappy. Something is off about the Barbers' marriage, but a part of Frances relishes the change. As Frances and Lilian grow closer, she finds Lilian more attractive and their lives begin to mesh. But when a crisis comes, will each woman be able to see it through? And what does it mean morally if they do? Can love really conquer everything? Moody and atmospheric, this latest from three-time Booker Prize finalist Waters (The Little Stranger) has a rich historical setting in which you can feel the smallness of middle-class English life. But neither Frances nor Lilian is terribly sympathetic, and it's hard to root for them. But perhaps that is the point. Waters keeps you guessing until the very end. VERDICT For fans of complex historical crime fiction with a strong sense of dread. [See Prepub Alert, 3/10/14.]--Devon Thomas, Chelsea, MI

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.