Summer Reading: The Paying Guests

World War I is a particular interest of mine so I was very eager to read The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters which is set just after that tumultuous period in history. The war is over and many in England are trying to adjust to a much different life than before the war. Husbands and sons are dead and servants have found work elsewhere. The aristocratic Mrs. Wray and her spinster daughter Frances are finding it difficult to keep up their rambling mansion and their finances are in disarray because of some bad business decisions made by her husband before his death (from apoplexy when the details of his mismanagement became known). They are obliged to take in lodgers to make ends meet. Lilian and Leonard Barber are less genteel than the Wrays and belong to the rising middle class.  This makes for some awkward encounters between them until Lilian and Frances begin an affair which leads to terrible consequences for both families. This novel is beautifully written and the atmospheric prose perfectly captures that era. However, I didn't entirely like it. The build-up to the affair between Frances and Lilian seems to take forever (a full two-thirds of the novel) with the accretion of tiny detail after tiny detail. I had predicted this relationship early on so I just kept waiting (and waiting) for it to happen and I became increasingly impatient. Then a plot twist happens which disrupts the fragile relationship between them and they both become so overwrought that they cannot come to a decision over what should be done. Frances contrives to visit Lilian, they have an emotional discussion about their situation, and then resolve to wait and see. Repeat, repeat, and repeat again. I feel like the characters had the exact same conversation at least five times! By the time the situation is resolved (which was rather abrupt considering the build-up) I almost didn't care any more. At least 200 pages could have easily been omitted without changing the outcome. Even though I usually love psychological dramas set during interesting historical periods, I was quite disappointed with this novel which had so much potential. I can't really recommend such a boring book.