INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A GOOD MORNING AMERICA COVER TO COVER BOOK CLUB PICK “Rich, dark, and intricately twisted, this enthralling whodunit mixes family saga with domestic noir to brilliantly chilling effect.” –Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author “A haunting, atmospheric, stay-up-way-too-late read.” –Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author From the New York Times –Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author
From the New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone comes another page-turning look inside one family’s past as buried secrets threaten to come to light.
Be careful who you let in.
Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am.
She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well–and she is on a collision course to meet them.
Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.
In The Family Upstairs, the master of “bone-chilling suspense” (People) brings us the can’t-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets.
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An entertaining thriller that will keep you guessing until the end with a twist that you won’t see coming until the last few chapters.
I enjoyed it! Good plot twists. Pretty original story line!
For the most part, The Family Upstairs is a mystery thriller that leaves behind some chills with each chapter you read. There are many twists and turns that make you second guess everything. I was hooked from the beginning and the actions of these characters are borderline psychotic with the exception of Libby. The ending, which some may think is a HEA is far from that, but then again so many of these characters who appear here get away with so much.
The ending is a little too pat and contrived but it doesn’t take away from the overall spooky/creepy feeling of the story. This is the type of book that is great for book clubs and discussion
As she turns 25, Libby receives the letter finally revealing who her birth parents are- not only that, she is suddenly the owner of a huge house in Chelsea worth millions. The house has been vacant since she was an infant and is the scene of a huge mystery- including a mysterious triple murder or suicide, a baby left alone, and other missing children. Soon Libby is on a quest for answers and is about to come face to face with the missing children- will they have the answers to her past? Spooky, suspenseful, and oh so good!
Lisa Jewell is a wonderful storyteller, I felt transported within the different geographies and timelines
Title: The Family Upstairs
Lisa Jewell
Genre: thriller
Page:352
Rating:4.5
Be careful who you let in.
Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am.
She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well—and she is on a collision course to meet them.
Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.
In The Family Upstairs, the master of “bone-chilling suspense” (People) brings us the can’t-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets
My thoughts
This is the second book from this author I’ve read and I have to say that this one might just be my favorite of the two. While it does switch back and forth between times , and while some of the characters seem to be unpredictable and not very believable as well as downright creepy , it made the story that more enjoyable because it kept me wanting to know more and wanting to know the story about what really happened that night. With that said I want to thank Netgalley For letting me read and review it .
A story told from three POVs…Libby, Lucy, and Henry…you will be drawn into a family drama. There are lots of mysteries and the story begins to be interwoven as the narrators’ stories blend. As a psychological thriller, it is spot on. The story moves quickly but you get to a point where there is just too much chaos. There are times you will actually hesitate because you are so close to the end and want to see how it ends.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
Book Review: The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell (2019) (Psychological Thriller) 4 Stars ****
Libby has just turned twenty-five years old when she receives a life-changing letter informing her that she just inherited a multi-million dollar family estate on the River Thames in Chelsea, England from none other than her deceased parents whose mysterious deaths led to her adoption, at ten months old, by a loving but virtually penniless couple. Determined to discover the truth surrounding her birth, the deaths of her biological parents, and the whereabouts of her siblings, Libby plays detective with the help of a handsome, also single investigative journalist.
The main narrator starts off by telling readers how the addition of one group of people can have a far-reaching effect on the lives of others. “It was them, draining the house, like vampires, of all of its decent energy, of all of its love and life and goodness, draining it all for themselves, feasting on our misery and our broken spirits.”
The story is told from the points of view of three characters: Libby, Lucy, and Henry. Libby’s relationship to Lucy and Henry is slowly revealed as we also are introduced to the other hapless players in the family drama. Believe me, there’s not one honest, likable character in this motley crew of too many characters with too many relationships with too many secrets and too many flaws. It’s hard to discuss the storyline without spoiling the plot points that are sprung on not so unsuspecting readers. It would seem the author means to surprise us with certain information, but I figured a lot of it out it almost before the author did, as it would seem.
Psychological thriller? At no time was I concerned for the safety or well-being of the characters. Just as the characters were not able to form close attachments with one another, these characters did not engage my concern or emotional involvement. Their story was told mostly in narrative resembling a newspaper account, removing the urgency and emotional turmoil of their dire situations. Intellectually, I was disturbed, but emotionally, I remained largely unaffected.
We are reminded of how we cannot escape the memories of our childhoods. In reality, despite how we may struggle to push it all to the back of our minds or pour our hearts out to therapists, those early life-shaping experiences dictate our perceptions of ourselves and do not go away. We can temporarily forget by removing ourselves physically from that location and the people who witnessed our truth. It doesn’t ake much to bring it all back.
If you like to read about how master manipulators use power plays to insinuate themselves into their victim’s lives and how the weak allow themselves to be swallowed whole until nothing exists of their individuality, then you will appreciate this book.
You will not know what actually happened until the very last sentence on the final page. This has so many brilliant twists and turns and I read it so fast, I felt I couldn’t breathe at times. The mystery is compelling – three dead bodies and one happy baby, in her cot, all found in a sprawling mansion. The writing style is effortless to read. You know that each thread of the story; from Lucy leaving France to Libby inheriting the house is connected, but although you think you know what happened – you don’t. Henry is written to perfection; an absolute masterpiece and had an air of Sebastian Faulks’s Enderby about him. Loved it and can’t wait for Invisible Girl.
The plot of this book leads to an ending that feels both inevitable and surprising, which is always great.
Libby inherits a Chelsea townhouse on her 25th birthday. It’s one of those events that we all dream about: a long lost relative who you never knew and could never mourn passes away and leaves you a great fortune. But on this occasion, it comes with a catch.
Libby’s parents died in a suicide pact, leaving her as a baby in a cot near the bodies. She was adopted by a different family and grew up believing her birth parents died in a car crash. This new information sends her on a mission to discover what really happened in the house she inherited.
There are a lot of dark themes in this book, but it never veers too far into the darkness. The characters are really interesting and I love how it spans two different time periods.
Very twisty with a surprise ending!
What a fabulous story! The author developed a very believable world of dark domestic suspense. The different character perspectives worked beautifully, gradually tying together all the lives damaged by more than one sinister individual. The understated menace of inviting the wrong people into a home, the dark and devious secrets, the abuse, the first person unreliable narrator – the outcome – all led to a tense and chilling, edge-of-the-seat read. The conclusion was brilliant.
Certainly keeps you guessing. I really enjoyed it. But I also thought it was weird.
Thank you and the Author and publisher for an ARC copy of this . The opinions expressed are my own.
What I liked. Good read. This was more of a family drama/ suspense than a murder mystery. The writing was solid and held my interest. The plot was intriguing and held a bunch of twists I didn’t see comming.
What I didn’t like: Some of what happens is “Off the wall” but it fits in the story. It just kind of bothered me. Not sure about the characters. It’s not that I didn’t like them they just all seem “weird” and I couldn’t really connect with any of them. I understood them they just didn’t seem real enough to me. I also wish the title fit a little better.
Still, it was a very good story and earns 4 stars.
The only way to describe this book is weird…the kind of weird that you can’t keep but reading!! This is the first book that I have read by Lisa Jewell, even though I have several of her books on my shelves! And while weird, this book did not disappoint! When I first started reading this book, I thought it was going to be a nice story about Libby and her inherited home and how she fixes it up (I have a bad or good habit of not reading the synopsis of a book before I read it). Boy was I wrong!! This book flips back and forth between the present and 25 years ago. It describes Libby’s life now, but also the disturbing life going on at 16 Cheyne Walk. As I read the descriptions of the lives that were being lived at 16 Cheyne Walk, I was in awe and a little mad about what was happening at the home. I was frustrated with the things that the kids in the house were going through (enter my social work background). This book was like an accident scene…you know, the kind that you know you should look away from, but at the same time, can’t bear to turn away from. Lisa Jewel tells a fantastically haunting story that captured me early on. The story was intriguing and you could not help wondering what was going to happen next. Lisa Jewel‘s writing is wonderfully descriptive and I could imagine the home and the experiences in my mind’s eye. This book was full of suspense and mystery that kept me guessing to the very end. The only thing about this book that I didn’t like was that it wrapped up too quickly…I felt there was more story to tell and more to wrap up. This book left me wishing for more!!
I am so glad that I finally read a book by Lisa Jewell. I am also glad that I read this book as a buddy read as we all had fun sharing our theories of what was happening in the book. It was wonderful to be able to share frustrations with the book and know I was not the only one feeling that way!!! Lisa Jewel is definitely on my list of authors to continue to read. I am excited to get my hands on the other books that she has written!!!
A creepy, emotional thriller!
Wonderful book. Great writing craft. The story is a slow burn and told in three points of view in alternating chapters. David the antagonist is developed and revealed slowly and turns more heinous with each chapter. Henry, the son is my favorite character. Jewel does a fantastic job developing his character and putting in layer after layer of motivation for what ultimately happens. The book starts out smoldering and doesn’t really shift into high gear until page 150, then it really takes off. The thriller structure with the short chapters helps make it a fast read that is difficult to put down. The story is also told alternation in the past and present. Jewel uses present tense for the current day part of the story and does it seamlessly. If I were boxed into a corner about something critical to say it would be that there were too many characters to track. This one is a solid five star read and I highly recommend it.
David Putnam author of the Bruno Johnson series.
Be careful who you let in.
Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am.
She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well—and she is on a collision course to meet them.
Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.
This was a slow beginning for me but once I got into it I had to find out what happened. The story is being told in the past and current time frames and by several of the characters. It was a very emotional read and a page turner and a twist in the end. This is definitely a thriller. I will definitely read more of her books.
What a wonderfully strange and twisted story! So many peoples lives involved and ruined all because of one mans sick and twisted mind! Lisa Jewell knows how to write a creepy story, thank you Lisa!
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell was an extremely one of a kind dark drama/psychological thriller & the first of its kind that I’ve not only read before by Lisa but the BEST of its kind of read so far this year.
A family that had it all, fame, fortune and love. Slowly letting it slip away by greed and overtime losing almost everything. Still having the house they take in a couple with two kids temporarily that offer to help the family monetarily and with ways of enlightenment. This family’s temporary stay slowly becomes permanent bring and ends in bringing yet another couple to live in this house. Things begin to disintegrate rapidly; health, happiness, money, food & family boundaries and in its place a cult like leadership forms. The disturbing and frightening future that now has become reality has some asking if they will make it out alive.
Told in three interwoven stories from the children born into the original family. Libby the baby found abandoned in the house; who now is just finding out about and inheriting the Mansion on her 25th Birthday and Lucy & Henry who were children lucky to make it out alive.
Fast paced and completely addicting; get ready to finish this book in 1 sitting because you won’t want to do anything else!