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タグ: LGBTQ_ENG

“The Paying Guests” Sarah Waters (2014) Review | But who manipulates who
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★★★★★ As expected, it's gripping, exciting, and a great storytelling. The woman who lives quietly with her mother falls with a beautiful young wife of the tenant, they're in love but who manipulates who? 
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The Paying Guests
By Sarah Waters, 2014
595ページ
Read 2024.3

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
As expected, it’s gripping, exciting, and a great storytelling.
The story is more straightforward than Fingersmith, but definitely not less curious.
It has all the good female characters.

After the war a woman now lives modestly with her mother, they decide to rent out a room but she falls for the young beautiful wife. And yes it all goes wrong.
They’re in love but who manipulates who? But is it manipulation or true love?
They find a tiny corner in the hostile society where they love blindly.
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🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

The Paying Guests
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●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
The Paying Guests: shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●

Gli ospiti paganti (Italiano)
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2026-02-23
“Spectacles a memoir” Sue Perkins (2015) Review | My fave TV personality
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★★★★☆ My favourite TV person in UK, definitely the best in BBC. The book is full of love that she is full of love, though she would not say it. 
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Spectacles a memoir
By Sue Perkins, 2015
377 pages
Read 2024.4

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
I even went to an event about this book at South Bank and queued to get it signed, and only reading it now.
Maybe one of the few of my favourite people on British TV, one of the few gems of BBC. She’s funny, clever but silly, honest, uncomfortable, a bit reckless but mostly humane. A lovely human being.
Who didn’t love her on GBBO, the Bake off?

And you get all that in the book, it’s full of love that she is full of love, though she would not say it.
And what surprised me is she’s older than I thought, but was still doing all that crazy stuff.
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🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

Spectacles

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
Spectacles: Sue Perkins

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
Spectacles: Sue Perkins
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2026-02-21
“Carol” Patricia Highsmith, (1952) Review | Bittersweet love story
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★★★★☆ An unusual love story; a girl and a woman fall in love, they run away, but there's the tension you wouldn't expect from people in love. And it's bittersweet, as ever.
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Carol
Patricia Highsmith, 1952
The Price of Salt
307 pages
Read 2024.4

🔽 Book review and notes 🔽
The movie was with Cate Blanchette, I haven’t watched it yet so didn’t know the story much but i can see it’s a perfect casting.

It must have been a shock when it came out but not as much as it would have been if people knew it was written by her and not was pseudonymous.

I only recently read The Paying Guest by Sarah Waters so I cannot help myself comparing them but it’s not so obviously a suspense or mystery.
An unusual love story; they fall in love, they run away, but there’s the tension you wouldn’t expect from people in love.
Is it a dare? Is it more about a girl growing up to become a woman. Like there are many stories for boy becoming a man, this is one of those.
And it’s bittersweet, as ever.
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🔽 Where to buy 🔽

●●● Amazon.com (US) ●●●

The Price of Salt, or Carol 

●●● Amazon.co.uk (UK) ●●●
Carol

●●● Amazon.it (Italy) ●●●
Carol (Italiano)
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2026-02-21