The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Book Summary:

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.

Publication Date:

November 5th, 2019

Genre:

Domestic Thriller

My Rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

My Review:

The Family Upstairs was one of my most highly anticipated Fall 2019 reads. I often struggle with the thriller genre and am frequently left feeling disappointed, either because they were way too far fetched and the ending comes out of nowhere or they feel cliched and totally predictable.

There are a few I have just loved but far more that felt like a letdown…and I get it, I am rather picky about them. I like the perfect balance of detailed characters, suspense, mystery and a satisfying, yet semi-realistic ending.

The one author that has yet to let me down is Lisa Jewell, and so this made my expectations even higher for this one. I am happy to report that she has done it again! The Family Upstairs was the perfect book to cozy up with on the couch and read the afternoon away.

In the Family Upstairs, I loved how Jewell moved back and forth in time which helped unravel the mysteries surrounding the three main characters. Jewell weaves an intriguing story and while there are a few storylines to follow, because of her immaculately detailed characters it all flowed so well for me.

I was able to follow along and quickly became engrossed and curious about how they were all connected. There was the perfect amount of intrigue and behind the scenes details that left me guessing until the very end. Jewell’s writing is always compelling but I think this is my favorite one of hers yet. She has a unique voice and strong originality in her writing which in this genre, is especially impressive!

Thank you to Atria Books for an advanced copy.