The story is set around a small boarding house in Bolton Spa and its owners and lodgers. 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 critics, "The coming together of character and situation in 'Paying Guests' creates a comic masterpiece, worthy to stand alongside the Mapp and Lucia books." A delightful book for anybody familiar with Benson's work, full of all the usual light, wit and satirical caricatures that Benson does so well.
