The Paying Guest

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The Paying Guest is a short satirical novel by George Gissing, first published in 1895 by Cassell in their Pocket Library. It follows the Mumford family, a middle‑class couple with a two‑year‑old daughter, who take in a young woman as a paying guest to help their finances.

Louise Derrick, the renting tenant, is poorly educated and quick to anger. She is pursued by two men: Bowling, who is courting Louise’s stepsister Cecily, and Tom Cobb, who is more seriously interested in Louise. The Mumfords don’t get along well with Louise and try to get her to leave, but she stays. A private meeting between Louise and Clarence Mumford makes Emmeline, Clarence’s wife, jealous.

Louise seems to flirt with Bowling at times, but Cobb shows up to pursue her. During a confrontation, Cobb knocks over a chair, Louise trips, and a fire starts in the drawing room. Louise is badly injured and spends weeks in bed. After this, her time with the Mumfords ends and she eventually marries Cobb.

Gissing wrote The Paying Guest quickly in July 1895. It was one of three one‑volume works he published that year. He later called it a “poor little book” and a “frothy trifle,” and he decided not to work in this short format again. Despite his doubts, the book sold well and was well received by many critics.

Reviews highlighted the book’s humor, realism, and engaging human portrayal. H. G. Wells, in the Saturday Review, called it “Gissing at his best,” noting a stronger sense of reality even though the author’s own personality was less visible. The Daily News praised its fine qualities, and The New York Times found it entertaining, especially the interactions between Louise and the Mumfords. Percy Addleshaw admired its humane character study, while The New York Book Buyer criticized it as shallow, likening it to “an intaglio carving in putty.”