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Paying Guests

by Sarah Waters
Paying Guests

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ISBN13: 9781594633119
ISBN10: 1594633118
Condition: Standard
DustJacket: Standard

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Staff Pick

Part erotic thriller, part psychological study, part murder mystery, The Paying Guests is an intricate tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Frances and her mother live in a large estate in a small English village, but after having lost all the male members of their family in the war, they are faced with taking in lodgers in order to make ends meet. The young married couple who moves in seems fine at first, but Frances begins to see them in a different light. Soon an unspoken slow-boil attraction blossoms into a passionate love affair, and things in the house become difficult to manage. A commentary on post-war mores, unexpected passion, crime and punishment, and personal integrity, The Paying Guests is a blistering tale of suspense that does not ease up on the unnerving tension. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

From the bestselling author of The Little Stranger and Fingersmith, an enthralling novel about a widow and her daughter who take a young couple into their home in 1920s London.

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.

With the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the “clerk class,” the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways. Little do the Wrays know just how profoundly their new tenants will alter the course of Frances's life — or, as passions mount and frustration gathers, how far-reaching, and how devastating, the disturbances will be.

Short-listed for the Man Booker Prize three times, Sarah Waters has earned a reputation as one of our greatest writers of historical fiction, and here she has delivered again. A love story, a tension-filled crime story, and a beautifully atmospheric portrait of a fascinating time and place, The Paying Guests is Sarah Waters's finest achievement yet.

Review

“An exquisitely tuned exploration of class in post-Edwardian Britain — with really hot sex....Tension is high from the first paragraph....Waters is a master of pacing, and her metaphor-laced prose is a delight…until the last page, the reader will have no idea whats going to happen. Waters keeps getting better, if that's even possible after the sheer perfection of her earlier novels.” Kirkus Reviews, (starred review)

Review

“Moody and atmospheric, this latest from three-time Booker Prize finalist Waters (The Little Stranger) has a rich historical setting…[and] keeps you guessing until the very end.” Library Journal

Synopsis

The New York Times bestselling novel that has been called "a tour de force" (Wall Street Journal), "unputdownable" (The Washington Post), "a delicious hothouse of a novel" (USA Today), "effortless" (The Economist), "seductive" (Vanity Fair) and "pitch perfect" (Salon)

"Superb, bewitching...Forget about Fifty Shades of Grey; this novel is one of the most sensual you will ever read, and all without sacrificing either good taste or a "G" rating" - NPR

"One of the year's most engrossing and suspenseful novels...a love affair, a shocking murder, and a flawless ending ... Will keep you sleepless for three nights straight and leave you grasping for another book that can sustain that high." -- Entertainment Weekly (A rating)

"Volcanically sexy, sizzingly smart, plenty bloody and just plain irresistible." --USA Today (4 stars)

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.

With the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the "clerk class," the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways. Little do the Wrays know just how profoundly their new tenants will alter the course of Frances's life--or, as passions mount and frustration gathers, how far-reaching, and how devastating, the disturbances will be.

Short-listed for the Man Booker Prize three times, Sarah Waters has earned a reputation as one of our greatest writers of historical fiction, and here she has delivered again. A love story, a tension-filled crime story, and a beautifully atmospheric portrait of a fascinating time and place, The Paying Guests is Sarah Waters's finest achievement yet.


About the Author

Sarah Waters is the New York Times–bestselling author of The Little Stranger, The Night Watch, Fingersmith, Affinity, and Tipping the Velvet. She has three times been short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, twice been a finalist for the Orange Prize, and was named one of Granta's best young British novelists, among other distinctions. Waters lives in London.

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Average customer rating 4.3 (3 comments)

`
W S Krauss , January 24, 2015 (view all comments by W S Krauss)
In this gorgeously written novel set just after the First World War, a young woman and her mother are forced to take in boarders when they find themselves in debt and with serious financial problems. Mr and Mrs Barber move into the upstairs rooms and turn the lives of Frances and her mother upside down. But Frances eventually starts a passionate affair with Lilian Barber, practically under the noses of Lilian's husband Leonard and Frances's mother. A tragedy unfolds and the affair is put on hold, as others are drawn into the upheaval. The plot is well-paced, the characters are beautifully drawn and the writing is exceptional. I will not soon forget the descriptions of the love affair between these two women. I held my breath waiting for the conclusion to the story, which doesn't come until the final few pages of this wonderful book.

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`
Poethead , October 11, 2014 (view all comments by Poethead)
I was a fan of Sarah Waters and her writing, after I had read her book The Little Stranger. It is her writing that grabs you. The story is set in the 1920's, and Sarah's Victorian, gothic tone oozes from every page. You will feel as though you are a paying guest, in the old Victorian home, peeking out from another room across the hall. The book becomes a thriller about mid-way through, and at that point, if the writing has not held you captive, the plot and its twists and turns will.

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`
jksquires , September 28, 2014 (view all comments by jksquires)
Sarah Waters continues to amaze. I had high expectations, because her last book "The Little Stranger" was one of the best I've ever read, but I wasn't disappointed in "The Paying Guests." The reader gets the sense, from the very beginning, when Leonard and Lilian Barber move into the rooms they've rented, that something ominous will occur and Waters stages the unfolding plot and period detail so deftly it doesn't take long to be totally absorbed in the story. I'll say no more because I've no intention of giving more details away.

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Product Details

ISBN:
9781594633119
Binding:
Hardcover
Publication date:
09/16/2014
Publisher:
RIVERHEAD BOOKS/PENGUIN PUTNAM
Pages:
576
Height:
1.90IN
Width:
6.40IN
Thickness:
1.75
Age Range:
18 and up
Grade Range:
13 and up
Number of Units:
12
Author:
Sarah Waters
Subject:
Literature-A to Z

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