This book was very well plotted and executed. It was recommended to me by our book store's sales assistant. She said she loved all the books written by Sarah Waters. What I didn't know is that this author is known for novels set in Victorian society and featuring lesbian protagonists. She has won the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction. The story was incredibly clever and the characters very believable. Despite my aversion to lesbian sexual encounters I appreciated the authenticity of the period the book was set in and the dynamics of a lesbian relationship within it. Set in early 1920's, following the Great War, a mother and daughter left without male support in middle class England find themselves obliged to rent spare rooms in their house to keep them financially viable. The rooms are rented to a young married couple who transform Wray's lives forever. A love affair blossoms between Frances Wray and the married Lilian Barber which not only leads them to the dangerous and uncertain future but also to crime. What starts off as a view into hardships of a genteel family slipping into demise ends with suspense and reflection on complexities of a lesbian relationship in a society that offers no recognition of such liaisons. Sarah Waters is an excellent writer who has found her niche in the literary world and for that I admire her.
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