10. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters I began reading The Paying Guests in a public place, and a friendly stranger asked me about what I was reading. "Historical fiction," I answered. "What era?," she persisted. "Post-World War II," I answered (this is incorrect, it's post-World War I, but I didn't notice this until the date is explicitly mentioned in the text). "Oh, what a lovely period! I like books set during or around World War II. Is it a mystery? A romance?" Here, I began to get even more uncomfortable than I already was. I wasn't that far in, but knowing who the author was, and being able to see the way the wind was blowing, so to speak, I could tell that it was shaping up to be at least partly based around a lesbian romance. Was that the sort of information I should disclose? I didn't know. I answered ambiguously that I wasn't that far in yet. I don't know, what should I have said? A Google search ...
Life, Books, and SFF