The Paying Guests is the story about a woman called Frances and her mother who need to reluctantly take in lodgers after Frances's deceased father made some bad financial decisions. Their prayers are answered when Mr and Mrs Barber take the rooms for let.
The story is set at a leisurely pace with the slow build up of the friendship between Frances and Mrs Barber (Lillian). Lillian's husband , a self confident cocky man is unlikeable and I never felt anything favourable about him. This increased throughout the story.
As the two women got closer and closer the tension in the story began to build and become more desperate and tension filled. Frances's mother is very disapproving of their friendship and would prefer if they were not on so friendly a terms. I never was certain if it was because she was afraid of losing their rent money if their friendship suddenly ended or because their closeness made her uncomfortable.
These characters really came alive for me and I listened to this story so quietly nothing else could be heard in the house. The house itself came alive for me too,each room hiding it's secrets , it was almost like another character.
It is very hard to say too much more about the story without giving away the most surprising and interesting things about it. I would say read this without reading spoilers, it's a book for adult readers, and from the middle to the ending it will have you completely and utterly gripped to the point that you won't be able to forget it even when you are not listening to it. This would be a fantastic book club read as you will want to talk about these characters a lot!!!!!! Truly wonderful!
