The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

*spoilers ahead*

Lisa Jewell’s The Family Upstairs is an easy to read crime/thriller novel starting with the story of a healthy baby found in the upstairs of a large house in Chelsea, London after 3 bodies were found dead downstairs. The book comprises of many short chapters going between the story of what happened in that house all those years ago and the present day, narrated by Lucy, Libby and Henry.

The book is divided into 5 parts, which introduce all the people who lived in the house and their story. We begin with Libby, who was the baby found previously, whose real name is Serenity Lamb. Her story begins when she is contacted that she has inherited a huge house in Chelsea. Aided by her friend Dido and journalist Miller Roe, who had previously reported on the story of what happened in that house years ago, they learn more about Libby’s past. As the story progresses, we see the original family who was in that house were Henry and Martina Lamb, and their children Henry and Lucy. Other people moved into that house; this included David and Sally Thomsen and their children, Phineas and Clemency. We also have Justin and Birdie who move in too.

One of the perspectives is told by Lucy when she is much older. Now, she has 2 children (Milo and Stella) and her dog Fitz. We see her struggle financially in France, without a stable home and playing her fiddle for money as much as possible. We discover her troubled relationship with her ex-husband, Michael, and after having to go back to him for help, Lucy ends up being raped by Michael and Lucy impulsively stabs him in the side which kills him. Jewell is very creative in getting the reader attached to the individual characters, especially as Michael’s death was not apart of the main storyline in terms of Lucy reuniting with the baby from the house years ago, but is still dramatic and key to Lucy’s progression in the rest of her life. However, I did find the murder surprising and I was frustrated that Lucy was never considered as a suspect either. I found this all too convenient even though her DNA would have been all over the house, but the murder was justified (as Michael was a horrible person) and so I didn’t let it distract me too much. I think because this novel fits into the “crime, thriller and mystery” genre, I wanted to read more about the crime aspect of the murder, but this may have distracted too much from the main story.

When the events unfold in the lead up to the discovery of the bodies in the house, I found Henry and Phin’s relationship interesting as Henry’s obsession with Phin became increasingly strong. I enjoy reading crime/thriller novels that delve into romance and The Family Upstairs does just that but not in the traditional sense that it is over-romanticized. Henry begins to inadvertently blame Phin for a lot of his problems, seeing his infatuation with Phin as damaging and a weakness.

The weakness of men lay at the root of every bad thing that had ever happened

The Family Upstairs., p190

As the story progress, I wanted to continue reading to see all the characters unite together at the house years later, which they ultimately did as they knew Libby would inherit the house once she turned 25. I found what happened originally at the house very interesting, particularly David’s autocratic way of life. What I found the most surprising was that Libby is actually the daughter of Lucy (who was 14 at the time of being pregnant) and David (who was 41). When you begin reading the story, Libby herself assumes Henry and Martina Lamb were her parents but this explains Lucy’s eagerness to get back to the house in the hope of meeting her daughter who she had to leave behind.

However, what is portrayed to be the “biggest” plot twist was finding out how the 3 bodies had died. What was most disturbing was that there was a fourth body hidden down the side of the house which was Birdie. We learn Henry had planned to knock out David, Sally and Henry with herbs that he had been growing in his herb garden to allow enough time for the rest of them to escape. However, when the herb garden is first introduced by Justin, who guided Henry into learning more about it (which is early in the book), it is obvious the herb garden would be responsible for the deaths.

I found the backgrounds to all these characters approachable and interesting and with the short chapters, it was very easy to continue reading to find out the next step in the story. However, with the perspective changing each chapter it sometimes made following the story a bit complicated as they all overlapped at some point.

Whilst I did enjoy this book, it is a light crime/thriller story. If you prefer more gruesome or psychological stories as I do, The Family Upstairs may not be as gripping. This may be because Jewell references pop culture quite a lot in her book, like the quote below, and whilst I found this enjoyable as I’m a fan of the show, it is not what I expected from a stereotypical thriller novel.

.. like in Doctor Who when he opens the door to the Tardis and doesn’t know where he is

The Family Upstairs., p206

I also liked that Libby and Miller ended up together, although this was quite predictable. When this was announced, we also find out that Phin is alive and well despite no-one hearing from him since the events that happened at the house years ago. The book ends before we find out any more, but this allows for the reader to debate how Henry would react to this information.

Whilst it is evident from the start of the book that the deaths were not suicide pacts, the truth about Libby/Serenity’s parents was really interesting and definitely the highlight of the book for me. I also found this specific book a great introduction to Jewell’s writing. Especially after reading other people’s reviews after I finished this story, I was excited to see that many people prefer her other books, so I am already excited to read more of her work. I have already purchased Watching You and I will be reading that soon.

3/5 stars