The Paying Guests (2014) by Sarah Waters is set in South London in 1922. Frances Wray lives in a large, crumbling house with her mother. Her brothers were lost in the First World War, and her father died with large debts. Having let go of their maid, Frances now cooks, cleans and cares for her mother. While Mrs Wray sees their reduced circumstances as a step down for this respectable family, Frances feels her world getting smaller. The women are forced to take on lodgers, the paying guests, to pay their bills.
Lillian and Leonard Barber move into their home. Leonard is loud and brash. While Len is off to work each day, Lillian has little to do but make herself attractive and decorate their rooms with bohemian aplomb. Initially, Frances is wary, seemingly having little in common with Lillian. But over time, the women form a bond, first over
Anna Karenina, and then a more intimate relationship develops. Frances wants a life with Lillian, but a terrible event takes place which tests the strengths of their feelings and may pull them apart forever.
To say more of the plot would spoil the story for readers. Waters has somehow crafted a tale in which the reader thinks it is going one direction and it suddenly turns into another. It begins as a domestic historical fiction and, after a gruesome segue, becomes a crime novel, a tense courtroom drama.
I really enjoyed The Paying Guests. During the first third of the novel, I wasn't sure whether the domesticity and quaintness would hold my attention. From the plot twist, I was gripped and wanted to see where the novel would go. The emerging love affair, tenderness between the women, and then sharp change as face a moral choice, was beautifully done. Waters has an eye for detail - whether describing someone's attire or the tedious chores needed to maintain the house - which she uses to great effect.
The Paying Guests was shortlisted for the 2015 Women's Prize, and named Fiction Book of the Year by The Sunday Times.
This is the first novel I have read by Sarah Waters (although I have seen adaptations of her other books), and I am certain it will not be the last. As I read I listened to the audio version, skilfully narrated by acclaimed British actor Juliette Stevenson. She was brilliant, and gave life to the characters through accents and pacing. Highly recommend.
