Paying Guests (novel)

Paying Guests is a 1929 comedy novel by the British writer E. F. Benson, best known as the author of the Mapp and Lucia series.^[1][2] The story takes place at Wentworth, a boarding house in the fictional resort town of Bolton Spa. It focuses on the eccentric collection of summer residents, mostly there to try and recover their health, overseen by the domineering former Indian Army Colonel Chase. According to a pair of critics, "The coming together of character and situation in Paying Guests creates a comic masterpiece, worthy to stand alongside the Mapp and Lucia books".^[3]

Paying Guests

First US edition
Author	E.F. Benson
Language	English
Genre	Comedy
Publisher	Hutchinson (London) Doubleday (New York)
Publication date	1929
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print

Television adaptation

In 1986, a two-part adaptation was made as part of the BBC's Screenplay anthology series, with a cast featuring Robert Hardy, Angela Thorne and Richard O'Callaghan.