Come and chat to the phenomenal SARAH WATERS, Booker-nominated author of The Paying Guests, The Night Watch and Fingersmith (among others) on Tuesday 29 September, 9-10pm

[TillyMumsnetBookClub]

August's author, Sarah Waters, is simply incomparable. She is a writer who can deliver pulse-racing, page-turning blockbusters that also become contenders for the Man Booker Prize. Her historical accuracy and mastery of atmosphere places her reader directly in the scene, whether it be a Victorian asylum or a London bomb shelter.

Her new novel, The Paying Guests, conjures a shifting, uneasy post-WWI London, where men and servants are thin on the ground, and attitudes to class and gender are in a state of flux. Impoverished aristocrat Frances and her widowed mother are forced to take in lodgers to pay the bills in their crumbling Camberwell mansion. But when the young married couple arrive, a simmering tension begins to brew between Frances, Mrs Barber and her husband, pulling everyone towards a passionate and devastating crime.

As previous Mumsnet guest Rachel Joyce put it, the story is "so evocative and compelling that all the time I was reading, I had a feeling it was me who had done something terrible, instead of her characters".
Many Mumsnetters have already given their approval: "One of her best yet. Very Waters-ish…I was completely utterly gripped." (FrancesHB).

Virago have 50 copies of The Paying Guests to give to Mumsnetters: to claim your copy please fill in your details on the book of the month page. We’ll post on the thread when all the copies have gone. If you’re not lucky enough to bag one of those, you can always get a Kindle version here or paperback here.

We are delighted that Sarah will be joining us on Tuesday 29 September, 9-10pm to discuss The Paying Guests, her many award-winning novels and her writing career. Please feel free to discuss the book here throughout the month and then come and meet Sarah on the night, and ask her a question or simply tell her what you thought of the book. Look forward to seeing you on the 29th…

Hi Sarah, I'm a huge fan and was lucky enough to see you at the Guardian event earlier this year.

My question is; how do you feel your academic background has influenced your work? And how does it feel when people now analyse your novels in that way?

Have just started the Paying guests. The Librarian recommended it to me. I hope you find that a compliment.

Hello.

@TillyMumsnetBookClub

August's author, Sarah Waters, is simply incomparable. She is a writer who can deliver pulse-racing, page-turning blockbusters that also become contenders for the Man Booker Prize. Her historical accuracy and mastery of atmosphere places her reader directly in the scene, whether it be a Victorian asylum or a London bomb shelter.

Her new novel, The Paying Guests, conjures a shifting, uneasy post-WWI London, where men and servants are thin on the ground, and attitudes to class and gender are in a state of flux. Impoverished aristocrat Frances and her widowed mother are forced to take in lodgers to pay the bills in their crumbling Camberwell mansion. But when the young married couple arrive, a simmering tension begins to brew between Frances, Mrs Barber and her husband, pulling everyone towards a passionate and devastating crime.

As previous Mumsnet guest Rachel Joyce put it, the story is "so evocative and compelling that all the time I was reading, I had a feeling it was me who had done something terrible, instead of her characters".
Many Mumsnetters have already given their approval: "One of her best yet. Very Waters-ish?I was completely utterly gripped." (FrancesHB).

Virago have 50 copies of The Paying Guests to give to Mumsnetters: to claim your copy please fill in your details on the book of the month page. We?ll post on the thread when all the copies have gone. If you?re not lucky enough to bag one of those, you can always get a Kindle version here or paperback here.

We are delighted that Sarah will be joining us on Tuesday 29 September, 9-10pm to discuss The Paying Guests, her many award-winning novels and her writing career. Please feel free to discuss the book here throughout the month and then come and meet Sarah on the night, and ask her a question or simply tell her what you thought of the book. Look forward to seeing you on the 29th?

Have read all Sarah Waters' books. Favourite is The Nightwatch. Least favourite The Little Stranger. Thought the Paying For ests was superb, so evocative and stayed with me for ages. Looking fwd to the webchat, thanks MN.

Guests. Stupid phone.

I'm a huge fan too. I'm so much of a fan I'm not even sure I can think of a question to ask, which is unusual for me.

What I particularly loved in The Paying Guests was the way you evoked the period so well - that sense of what it was like to be a woman in that particular place, at that particular time, in that particular social class. I liked things like the details about being supercilious towards returning soldiers begging in the streets - they didn't regard them as heroes the way we do now. It really brought the past alive for me (I think that's true of all your books).

I also enjoyed the ending - it didn't go the way I expected at all and that was rather wonderful.

One question from me. And one from a friend...

Given that your novels are all set in the past, the closet is a common theme. If you were to set a novel in the present day, which lesbian related themes would you like to address?

What sources did you draw on to make the dialogues in The Paying Guests sound convincing?

Sarah, you are such a perfect writer. Have read all your novels except the last. I am always sad when I get to the end of your books. I inhibit the worlds you create, totally, and find the atmospheric moods you create as close to perfection as one could get without a time machine. I could not put down any of your books, but have a special place in my heart for 'Fingersmith' and 'Affinity'.

Clearly you are my favourite author. Who is yours?

Am yet to read The Paying Guests but have loved your previous novels. All of them completely absorbed me and I was sorry to reach the end.

Both The Little Stranger and Affinity left me feeling unsettled for days. They were both so wonderfully, subtly creepy. My question is: do you take more pleasure in moving your reader to tears or scaring them?

I loved this book. Having never read a Sarah Waters I didn't know what to expect, but from a seemingly mundane premise emerged a gripping story. I loved the evocation of the period, all the details about the house, the nuancing and importance of social class - and the ending, which wasn't what I would have predicted. My question is: Is there a time period in which you haven't yet set a novel, which you would really like to explore?

Thank you for my copy of The Paying Guests. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. This is the first time that I have read any novel by Sarah Waters. Consequently, I was unprepared for the twists and turns, changes in pace. I read the first part which covered the development of Frances and Lilian's relationship very quickly, then started to lose interest in part two until there was a major shift in what I thought was going to happen. (Trying to be vague so as not to reveal anything.)

It came as no surprise to me to find that the author had previously been in academia. Whilst my knowledge of the period after the First World War is limited, the characters' turn of phrase had an air of authenticity about it, as did the general social setting of the novel.

My questions:
Do you take as much enjoyment out of researching a particular period or person as writing your own work? Where do you do your research?

What aroused your interest in 'high-profile British murder cases of the twenties and thirties'?

Sarah - I really enjoyed The Little Stranger and The Paying Guests (especially the latter, as it is not far from where I live! - In fact I wondered if the house where Frances and her mother live is based on a real house that still exists or not?…) I am interested in your writing process and how much you plan in advance. Are all the strands of your story plotted out or are there some elements that just develop as you go? Thank you!

I'm a member of the Merton Local Mumsnet book club and I read The Paying Guests for our September meeting.

The Paying Guests is, for me, the perfect book. I'll say that again: perfect. A literary page-turner, written with such warmth, and love, and historical accuracy; I was totally submerged in it. Perfect.

Fingersmith was the same.

My question is: have you ever done a public event with Jeannette Winterson? I went to a Guardian event with Jeannette and Helen MacDonald and they sparked off each other so brilliantly, it was electrifying. I think you and Jeannette could be similar.

Hi Sarah

Just finished reading The Paying Guests for our Mumsnet Merton & Wimbledon Book Group.

I felt that both Frances and Lilian were bound by the mores of the era in which they lived. Frances we felt great sympathy for all thro' the novel but Lilian less so. Was this how you intended the reader to view the characters?

Hi Sarah
This is the first time I have read one of your books, but it will definitely not be the last. Thank you Mumsnet and Virago for my copy. There is a waiting list for it after tonight's chat.
I echo exactly BearAustin's account of the reading pace but feel this was as you planned so feel slightly manipulated by you rather than disappointed? I could hardly stop reading the first part but was less interested in the legal outcome.
I felt much less chronologically detached than I expected for a book set in the 1920's and enjoyed the subtle revelation of each character (in a voyeuristic way).

Fabulous book - looking forward to your chat this evening.

@ spoiler, LocalEditorMerton!

The characters in your books always come across as so real but also very of the time. I'd love to know how your novels take shape. Do the characters come first or do you decide on an era and then write the characters to fit?

Ms Waters, you were instrumental in helping me to understand my sexuality and form my identity. And also responsible for my penchant for women in period dress. Now your books are like a familiar comfort blanket (and an endless source of style inspiration) to me. I’d like to ask you- what advice do you have for aspiring writers who want to believably reference queer sexuality in a historical context?

Yours with warmth and gratitude,
Sofie

I so enjoyed this book and like lots of other readers was fascinated by the period details - especially the dialogue which felt wonderfully authentic. I read Virginia Woolf's Night and Day recently which was written just after WW1 and the portrayal of young, clever, middle class women looking for a purpose in life beyond marriage reminded me a lot of Frances and Christina. My question for Sarah is, did you draw on any particular novels/writers from the period while you were writing The Paying Guests, and if so which ones would you recommend?

Hi Sarah. I loved this book which helped me get through a difficult Christmas last year. The suspense in the book was almost overwhelming to read at times (in a good way) especially during the part about the trial. My question is how did you research that part of the book?

I thought that it showed your writing skill to keep me turning the pages during the lengthy section after the murder. The suspense was brilliant and part of what kept me going wasn't so much to know what the outcome was going to be, as much as to put the two women out of their misery!

I liked the open ending, although I would have been happy with an unhappy ending! Was this always going to be the ending it did you consider alternatives?

I absolutely loved this book. I found that I was sucked in to the whole ethos of the thing - everything including the time period, the setting, the characters, the drama. This was one of the best books that I have read in a while. I liked the way that the characters were drawn and, although a rather vicious crime had been committed, I was longing for the perpetrators to not get caught which I think is a reflection of how well it has been written. There are some controversial themes in here, at least they would most certainly have been in the post First World war period, but this only adds to the excitement of the story. It has certainly made me want to read more of Sarah Waters' work.

Thanks Mumsnet and Virago for my copy. This was my first Sarah Waters novel and I really enjoyed it. I liked the fact it turned into a totally different novel from the one it seemed to be at the start.
I wondered if the characters might be revisited in a future novel, either as main characters or as part of a sub-plot?

Another question if it's OK:

Other writers have adapted some of your books into TV series's and, as with Tipping the Velvet, a play - do you ever see yourself in the future adapting one of your books into a different medium?

One more question if that is okay? Having never read your work before, I wondered if there are any themes from The Paying Guests that are echoed in your earlier books?