The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters may well be one of the most anticipated new novels of this autumn. I know it was high up on my lists of must reads. Waters is known for her beautifully written and well researched historical novels that highlight sapphic relationships. The Paying Guests follows this trend with a love story that crosses class lines in post World War I London.
I’ve read almost all of Water’s novels, but I must admit that The Paying Guests did not rank among my favorites. I had problems settling into the book. The question is, was it me or was it the book that was the problem? As is to be expected, the writing was wonderful. Each sentence was so finely crafted that on a sentence to sentence basis it took my breath away. The characters were also complex and highly nuanced. The Paying Guests is more of a love story than I remember her other novels being. Perhaps that is where the problem lays.
Praise aside, it took me a good hundred pages to really get into The Paying Guests, though once I was in, I was hooked. Until I wasn’t. The middle section of the book is full of great twists and turns. Tension is built up and released time and again. I was on the edge of my seat, staying up way too late reading, until it started to drag. Just as it took me a while to get into the book, I felt like it was never going to end. Just give us resolution already! I wanted to yell.
In spite of all my complaints aside, Sarah Waters is Sarah Waters and The Paying Guests is a beautifully written novel. Like her many other novels, I imagine this one will be nominated for the most prestigious prizes. But if you have not read Waters before, this may not be the starting point I’d recommend. For me, this was not her best book.
Who would like this book? The Paying Guests is for lovers of literary fiction. Waters ranks up there with Margaret Atwood as one of the best writers we have.
52 books or bust 
What’s your favorite of hers? I have a copy of this and Fingersmith and still haven’t gotten to either, but now I’m wonder what I should try to get to first.
I liked Fingersmith a lot, but i think my favorite is The Night Watch because of the setting. The Paying Guests is still really a worthwhile read, just not as good as what I remember her other books to be. She’s a brilliant writer.
I was going to ask this same question! I read Fingersmith and didn’t love it, so I wasn’t sure where else might be a good place to try. I will look for The Night Watch — the Atwood comparison has convinced me to try again.
Fingersmith wasn’t my favorite either, though it was my introduction to Waters. For me that had to do with the period and setting. I’ve come to realize that for me setting is everything when I read, and some settings grab my attention while others don’t.
Maybe it IS a good place to start because there’s nothing to compare it to?
Touche.
I’m sorry to hear this wasn’t your favorite. I haven’t read anything by Waters yet, but I picked up Fingersmith at my library book sale and can’t wait to get to it. Actually, I have a free space in my reading schedule coming up, so maybe I’ll fill it with this… Thanks for the fantastic review!
Lucky you get this book so quickly and signed to boot! It’s an interesting thing when a favorite author’s new work isn’t quite as breathtaking as you hoped. It’s still awesome because it’s a favorite author, but it has just a smidge of disappointment too.
Anyway, I haven’t read ANY Waters yet and really must rectify that soon.
I haven’t read Sarah Waters before. I put The Night Watch on my TBR list. Maybe I’ll pick up a copy during our trip to the UK!
I’ve been waiting till I wrote my review before reading yours. While I’ve only read Tipping the Velvet, I can’t really speak for all her novels. However I liked Tipping the Velvet and measured The Paying Guests against that book and it feel short. I feel like there was something missing and it is hard to put my finger on it. I’m still excited to read more from Waters, hopefully Fingersmith sometime soon.
Fingersmith is great, but I also really liked The Night Watch and The Little Stranger.
I’m guessing you prefer the gothic side to Sarah Waters
I do. It’s true.
I reviewed it today and had some of the same issues, though you did a much better job putting them into words.
It is a great review isn’t it, makes my first draft look terrible, I might have to rewrite it a few times to reach this standard.
I read Fingersmith a while back and I liked it. I’m thinking I should get to some more Sarah Waters, but maybe I’ll take the advice you gave Shannon and go for The Night Watch!
Do it.