THE PAYING GUESTS by Sarah Waters (McClelland and Stewart), 564 pages, $34 cloth. Rating: NNNN
Sarah Waters’s new novel doesn’t have one of those devastating twists for which she’s known. But she proves in The Paying Guests that she’s as brilliant a storyteller as ever.
In post-WWI London, financially troubled Frances and her mother are forced to take lodgers Lillian and Leonard into their home. Suddenly privacy is at a premium, and Frances learns more than she should about the couple and feels the stirrings of attraction to Lillian.
As usual, Waters does not skimp on period details. Every piece of furniture, every fabric worn, all the elements of teeming London are described with delicate precision. Her genius is that these diversions never distract from the story. They meld seamlessly with the narrative, which rolls along at a clip.
There are infidelities, a murder and unbearable sexual tension – another Waters hallmark – in a story that touches on shifts in class, women’s constrained economic opportunities and the speed with which emotional landscapes can change.
Frances yearns for Lillian and takes huge risks to get her – their attempts to find space where they’re not being watched are almost comical. But when she might have what she wants, she has serious second thoughts. Be careful what you wish for, the author seems to say.
Kudos to Waters for the ambiguous ending, which questions fiction’s requirement for closure.
Waters reads November 1, 2:30 pm, at the Fleck Dance Theatre. ifoa.org
