The Paying Guests

This book is not as it seems, while also being exactly as it seems. I love the language, the characters, the way emotion is conveyed. Still, it goes down an odd path–it's not a bad path, just one that doesn't quite fit the tone of the rest of the book, for me. The pluses far outweigh the minuses, however, and I look forward to reading more from Waters.

not too sure what I think about this book to be honest; really enjoyed the first half but the second half not so much, the pace was a bit too slow. My least favourite Sarah Waters book since Affinity (but I think my taste has changed significantly since The Little Stranger came out).
Would have been 3.5 stars

This was my first Sarah Waters book and at first I found it to be long and slow but the more I was reading, I could,'t stop. There's romance, some suspense and some suprises in this book. A great book.

It was engrossing, although the last 1/3 dragged a bit. I'll admit I was hoping for a more epic romance, but there is a gritty reality to this that is stunning in its own way.

By about page 200, I really wanted to abandon this book. It took a full 200 pages to identify that the main character, Frances, is lesbian, and that she and her “paying guest”, Lilian, were about to have an affair under Lilian's husband's nose. There are a couple important details to the arc of the story in there, but it's way too much character development for me. 200 pages of awkward tea parties, a telling brush of a hand, a blossoming friendship...I was so bored.

There are three parts of the story: pre-affair, affair, game-changer. Each part could have been about half the length, and this book would have been much more enjoyable for me. There were parts that just didn't matter that much overall, and didn't really need to be there.

Read the rest of this review at http://www.literaryquicksand.com/2016/01/the-paying-guests-by-sarah-waters/.

Wow! I was a little surprised by all the hubbub when this book came out and a lot of people I know were excited about “the new Sarah Waters!” because I had somehow not heard of Sarah Waters before? After read this I definitely get the excitement, though.

Again, not knowing anything about Sarah Waters but just wanting to read this because everyone was talking about it, I got a little bummed out when I picked up my library hold and it was so long! I'm used to YA fiction these days and I was a liiittle grumpy about the prospect of nearly 600 pages of British period drama. (I'm one of few people who didn't love Downton Abbey–just not my particular jam usually.)

So I was surprised and pleased by what a page turner this was!! The drama and romance was truly fraught and 100% engaging. Lovely!

Meh. Shallowly drawn characters, long boring passages with little payoff. I was hoping for something that gave more a feeling of what it was like to be gay during that time and place.

I don't even know how to rate this one. There were times when I thought it deserved five stars and times when I thought I'd only give it one star. There were times when I wanted to put it down and forget it. It suckered me in during some parts, but wasn't able to hold my interest for a whole 565 pages. This should have been more heavily edited. I can't say that I'd recommend this book to anyone. Am I glad I read it? Eh.

How's that for a review.

The second half is much more absorbing than the first; the whole book is suffused with melancholy, which makes it a good read for dark winter nights.