The Paying Guests

Gripping in the last half

The novel is beautifully written with intricate details of a life that's lost its luster. Frances' father badly invested his money and after his death leaves his once prominent family struggling to make ends meet. Her mother likes to ignore these things and proceed as usual. The Great War has taken a toll on everyone, including the deaths of Frances' two brothers. She and her mother must take in 'paying guests' to pay the bills. The Barbers seem a nice couple at first, but cracks in their marriage begin to emerge. Frances, who has already had a failed lesbian relationship, finds herself attracted to Mrs. Barber. But a terrible accident upends everything. The first half of the book was interesting, though it dragged in places. The second half, after the accident had me hooked. Frances could be careless, when she knew she was being investigated. And Lillian, Mrs. Barber, was a flighty woman caught up over her head. I was surprised that she succumbed to this dangerous, at the time, relationship with another woman, when that didn't seem in her nature. Still, a worthwhile read. Read more