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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I picked this book up because of the many recommendations and reviews and I’m glad I did. By the time I got around to reading it, I had forgotten most of the information about the general plot from those reviews so I approached the story without specific expectations other than it was well-reviewed . Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. I highly recommend this book.
Libby Jones receives a letter just after her 25th birthday revealing the names of her birth parents. The Henry and Martina Lamb Trust has granted her a mansion in Chelsea, and the lawyer gives her a news article describing the discovery of the body of a 10-month-old baby on the second floor of the mansion, Henry and Martina Lamb, and that of an unidentified man in the kitchen. All three died of poison. Suicide pact? Something more sinister? The psychological thriller unfolds from there and is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat.
The epitome of a Domestic Thriller!
Well let me just say, for a book that started out slow for me. it certainly ended with a bang!
A true Psychological thriller told by three different points of view which was confusing at first but once you get it makes sense and vital to the story. This was my first read from Lisa and definitely won’t be my last!
This was the first book I’ve read by Lisa Jewell. I will be reading more. Even though this book is titled “The Family Upstairs” it is not about a family living above a family living below.
This book tells the story of Libby, who discovers she has inherited a house in London. Libby was adopted and the house belonged to her biological parents. They left the house to her in their will. The house has a history – 3 adults were found dead in the kitchen while Libby, as an infant, was upstairs in a crib with a lucky rabbit’s foot tucked in the crib with her.
An investigative journalist had written a story about the dead people found in the house. A former socialite and her husband and another man. There were other children living in the home but they were not there when the bodies were discovered.
The book alternates between Libby’s story, Lucy’s story and the story leading up to the murder.
Very well written, which is why I will be reading more from her going forward.
Lisa Jewell once again has created a suspenseful page turner with The Family Upstairs. The twists continue until the very end.
432 engrossing pages of pure psychopathic heaven and I read every one of them in the last 1o hours. I have been walking around our house all day resenting anyone in my family who needed me for anything…this book is THAT good.
We’re ordering pizza tonight.
Sorry, not sorry.
Don’t worry if, as you start this, you feel a little confused by the introduction of different characters and different time periods, it only feels like you don’t know what’s going on and it only lasts a little while because pretty soon? Bang, like jello it all gels together and the tension ramps and ramps and ramps. I could…not….put….it….down.
I’ll let everyone else describe it; just read it!
Lisa Jewell has been one of my favourite authors since RALPH’S PARTY, and THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS is astonishing. I inhaled this book, couldn’t read it fast enough, and loved every page after twisty page. Highly, highly recommended. Get this book now.
Absolutely loved this book!
I love all of Lisa Jewell’s books. Her plots are brilliant; her characters feel like real people with whom I can empathize even when I don’t agree with their actions. The Family upstairs grabbed me from the first sentence. What an amazing premise! I couldn’t put this book down. It was the perfect mix of suspense and compelling characters navigating the vagaries of life.
It started off very slow, with it being three people’s point of view it had to build up to that page turning factor. It really didn’t pick up till around page 200.
We read Libby’s present story on inheriting the house. Lucy and her struggle on how to get back home. Then we are given a recollection of the events as told by Henry leading up to what really happened with the family upstairs.
It was a good story but it was very over hyped. It’s a unique story about a family that “welcomes” a family in to their home only to be manipulated and taken over.
BOOK REVIEW
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
Pub Date: November 5, 2019
352 pages
-DESCRIPTION-
On Libby’s 25th birthday, she recieves the inheritance she’s been expecting from her biological parents. To her surprise it is a house worth millions. The story unfolds and we learn more about Libby’s family and their demise.
-THOUGHTS-
1. This is told from 3 viewpoints, which I love. Although with this particular book, I didn’t feel like I really got to know any of the characters really well. It all felt very surface. Henry’s viewpoint was the best and it was becuase it was first person. I wish that character had been way more flushed out. At one point he was not a reliable narrator, but there was only one instance of that. There was an obsession, but again not fully rounded out. Weird things only kind of happened…it just left me not really understanding what the point was.
2. I definitely wouldn’t call this a thriller at all. It’s more just a story. Even though the story unfolds slowly, it’s still a page turner. You want to know what happened. There just isn’t any big twists. Don’t expect them. Because I went into this book expecting that, I was slightly disappointed in the end. However, I still really enjoyed the book.
-RATING-
I recommend this book.
-SIMILAR RECOMMENDED READS-
The Dead Girls Club
The Whisper Man
The Woman in the Park
Lisa Jewell has done a masterful job with her story, a tale of suspense and thrills, that will have you running for cover while reading her novel: ” The Family Upstairs”.
In a well appointed house comes forces fit for a hurricane, with destruction in its wake! Young child learn how devious and lasting some lessons in life can be. What it means to lose your world to others, how helplessness can paralyze even the strong in heart. Bravery against seemingly unsermountable odds will have to be put into play to survive and to protect the future!
The intricacies of life altering events and character interactions were creativity done by Jewell. Each page had me turning to the next with little break. I was absorbed into this book so completely, not one clock I own helped me keep track of time!
A book for all night, and day if not careful, this wonderful novel is a bookworm’s dream! A purchase you won’t regret!
I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters were interesting, the story line was different enough to hold my attention and the ending was great. Henry was my favorite. It was a little slow in places but not enough to make me crazy.
Wow! What a book. A little unnerved by the ending there (well, and some middle bits). I like Lisa Jewell’s style because it has a sweet touch to it that makes you feel like you can trust her. I HATE it when authors build up characters for you to grow attached to, just to destroy everything in the end. Lisa Jewell tugs at your heartstrings, VS rip your heart out.
My one qualm with this story is that I went back and forth with caring about it. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I basically read the whole thing in one day LOL but there were several bits where I thought “I don’t care. Why should I care? I’m just reading to get through.” Like Libby, for instance, was a bland character until almost page 300. I cared for Lucy, but also there was a slow pacing with Lucy I didn’t like. Henry was creepy, but his bits were the most interesting. You feel me?
Overall, now that I’ve read two of Lisa Jewell’s books, I am overall impressed by her writing and I trust her as an author. I trust her to take care of the story and her characters. She does an absolutely fabulous job of adding just enough description to not exactly paint a picture, but put flashes of a picture to your mind and evoke enough feeling. She writes very real characters.
I definitely recommend this one for fiction lovers who need a bit of an interesting edge! Oh, also, trigger warnings galore. Lots of sexual assault and abuse.
This book took me on a twisty, turny, ride that I’ll not soon be able to get out of my head. The characters were so connectable and the story pieced together masterfully. Highly recommend if you’re a fan of the psychological thriller and of being late for work because you can’t put the book down.
Domestic Thriller | Mystery | Suspense | Gothic
The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewel is a riveting family portrait compiled with thrills and mystery. Lisa Jewel is a new to me author and I highly suspect that I’ll be reading many more of her novels in the future. Why? Because this book entrapped me. Throughout the novel you get chills and goosebumps running down your skin because you don’t know where the story is going to go. There are no breadcrumbs to follow, the book slowly reveals itself with each chapter. Even more, the book had all the makings of an atmospheric and gothic novel. It’s dark, creepy, and foreboding. Readers are given a glimpse inside the life of a group of people (including children) as they slowly decent into mania. When I say mania, I don’t necessarily mean “crazy” although some would say that some of the characters are indeed crazy. What I mean is a slow decent into behaviors that others wouldn’t agree with- extreme behaviors that seriously affect all that are involved. I won’t say what as it would ruin the book for potential readers, but it will give you feelings of anger and grief for those involved.
Lisa Jewel has nearly perfected this novel and if it weren’t for one thing that seems unanswered in the end this would be a solid 5 star. Unfortunately, I needed a little more closure for two specific characters.
If you are a fan of domestic thrillers, gothic literature, mystery, and suspense then you won’t want to miss THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS by Lisa Jewell. I’m so glad I chose this book as my pick for THE BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB.
This is the 3rd book by Lisa Jewell I have read, and I think they just keep getting better. It’s a strange kind of book, but strange in a good way.
Libby turns 25 and inherits her birth parents home. There is a mystery of what happened to them in the house. Also, Jewell wrote in a way, that made everything seem like a mystery. From the POV’s of the chapters in book that had starring roles, to the other characters.
This book is full of twists. When you think you have figured out, who one person is wham, Jewell surprises you. Jewell left it open, so I can only hope she will continue the story.
I highly recommend you reading this one. It is one of the best mysteries I have read in awhile. Happy Reading
Libby turns 25, and suddenly learns that she has inherited a high mansion in upscale Chelsea. As she begins to learn about her own history, however, what seemed like a windfall turns darker. It seems she is the sole survivor of a cult suicide, and the other children in the house are missing. As we ready Libby’s perspective, we also begin to meet and hear the stories of others, who we later find also survive the ordeal. This is Lisa Jewell at her best — reading her backlist you can see her evolution as an author — and Jewell keeps us on the edge of our seats with this one. Characters are well depicted, and you really experience what it was like for Libby and the others. The novel has a number of twists and turns and even in the end keeps you thinking. I read most of this in one day and could not wait to get back to it. Jewell is a master of psychological fiction, and this one cements her place in that genre.
All I can say about The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell is Wow! It is a very well written, sinister, novel dealing with deep, dark hidden family secrets. It is a real page-turner and one that you won’t be able to put down. It is full of twists and turns and a twisted ending that will surprise you. This is my first time reading a book by this author and she really delivers.
Lisa Jewell has done it again. The Family Upstairs is a riveting, creepy, twisted story that kept me completely engaged all the way through. Told from the perspective of three equally compelling characters, I couldn’t wait to figure out what had happened in the past and how it led them to where they are today. I will read anything Jewell writes. She’s a thriller writer at the top of her game.