Creepy and disturbing. Started off disjointed and by the end it all comes together. Well written and all connects well

Imagine inheriting an eight bedroom property in London’s SW3 - in the heart of Chelsea - it’s an area of multi million pound homes - well let’s face it, you’d be over the moon to say the least. This wonderful inheritance is Libby Jones 25th birthday present, but the house (or mansion to be precise) is pretty dilapidated, and it has a very sinister past too.

Told from the points of view of Libby, Lucy, and Henry, in both the past and present, this compelling family drama begins with the previous owners of the house. The Lamb’s are a wealthy couple with two children, Henry and Lucy. After allowing a charismatic stranger named David and his family to move into their home, their lives will be turned completely upside down, because David isn’t nearly as charming as he appears to be. He’s definitely a Svengali figure and will soon have the family under his spell, all except for Henry - he isn’t falling for David’s charms, not one little bit!

A disturbing, chilling and complex narrative results in many mysteries, as the three narrators stories begin to thread together, bringing us ever closer to the main mystery - that of what happened to the previous inhabitants of this Chelsea mansion.

An utterly thrilling drama unfolds between the pages of this book that had me gripped from the start. Libby is startled to discover that she has inherited a multi-million-pound house in London, which was also the house where three dead bodies and a crying baby were discovered 25 years earlier. As Libby delves deeper into her unknown past and the revelation that she has siblings that went missing at the same time she enlists the help of the journalist who tried to uncover the truth about the house some years earlier.
Told from different pov's and flitting between past and present, the true and tragic story of what really happened at 15, Cheyne Walk is slowly revealed. The privileged homeowner's wife is dissatisfied with her life and seeks the spiritual enlightenment promised to her by the enigmatic and manipulative David. He and his family move in but the parents seem oblivious to his greed and coercive behaviour that becomes more disturbing the longer he stays. The true horror of the situation is manifested in the children's reactions and treatment at the hands of the grown-ups and it is clear that the situation won't end well.
Be warned if you have lodgers or share a house, it may make you look at your fellow housemates in a different way.

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Many thanks to Random House and Lisa Jewell for the opportunity to read and review this book. I always enjoy Lisa's books and this one is no exception. The Family Upstairs is utterly gripping and will have you hooked from the first chapter. The book delves into the world of cult living and the repercussions for generations to come. Whst happens when your parents, the people you rely on most let you down The story of Libby, Lucy. Phin and Henry will evolve across the pages keeping you up at night and away from everything else you had planned. Totally recommend.

You have to hand it to Lisa Jewell as this is a whole new level of twisted and messed up and I loved every moment of it!!!!

A must read and be prepared to not be able to put it down!

Thank you Random House and Cornerstone Century for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest review.

This felt a lot more like a horror thriller than a mystery. But in a way that had very well developed characters and intriguing ongoing action.

It might've been the arc copy that I was given, but I think there were some plot holes, and also a few timeline references with the character's ages didn't quite add up. It's a very complicated plot, in the end.

I have added a few other books by Lisa Jewell. I'm intrigued, even though this wasn't exactly for me.

"You thought they were just staying for the weekend. They looked harmless enough – with only two suitcases and a cat in a wicker box.
But soon things turn very, very dark. It happens slowly, yet so extraordinarily quickly.
Now you and your sister must find a way to survive…"

Libby Jones is an ordinary young woman living and working in St Albans. She knows she was adopted as a baby but it's not until she turns 25 and inherits no. 16 Cheyne Walk, a large house in Chelsea, London that her life begins to change. Wanting to know more about her life before she was adopted, she approaches journalist Miller Roe, who has researched the family at no. 16 and together they investigate.

In France, penniless Lucy and her children Marco and Stella are struggling to make ends meet. Desperate Lucy approaches her abusive ex-husband, Michael for money.

Twenty five years previously the tale of glamorous and wealthy Martina and Henry Lamb and their children, Henry and Lucy play out at no. 16. First eccentric Birdie Dunlop-Evers and her boyfriend Justin, an apothacary, come to stay. Then the arrival of a family who come to stay upstairs, controlling David Thomsen, his subdued wife Sally and their strange children Phin and Clemency, brings terrible changes to the residents of no. 16.

Pacy and involving, The Family Upstairs is a well-written and engaging domestic thriller. Flitting between the three different stories it becomes clear how they link to one another. The worsening atmosphere at no. 16 creeps slowly as the house and its residents transform under the influence of Birdie and David, coming to a shocking and tragic conclusion. Creepy, disturbing and enthralling.

Eleven year old Henry Lamb and his younger sister live in a beautiful Chelsea mansion with their wealthy and glamorous parents. His life is full of treats and outings and top private schools. But one day his mother invites a young woman to stay for a few days and slowly things start to change until Henry's world is one he no longer recognises. It will all end badly as the police discover when they break into the house to find three dead adults and a baby alone in her cot. Older children were rumoured to have been in the house, but there is no sign of them and they were never found.

This is more domestic noir than a thriller but makes for suspenseful and compelling reading. The novel is told from two main points of view. One of these is a young woman called Libby, adopted as a baby, who discovers she has inherited a mansion in Chelsea on her twenty fifth birthday. Henry's voice is used to relate what happened all those years ago in the past to turn his life into a nightmare.

This is a dark and engrossing tale of madness and delusion where the tension ramps up to breaking point. The pacing of the novel is good and there are surprises in store as the mystery of what happened in that house and to the children in the aftermath gradually unfurls.

This complex thriller by Lisa Jewell is told from 3 viewpoints and in two tme slots in order to explain the situation at 16 Cheyne Walk whilst keeping up the levels of suspense. There are a number of scenarios which demonstrate how people can behave completely out of character when they can see no other options. The characters evolve along with the situation and the reader is kept guessing until the last few chapters as to what really happened. A real pge turner.

THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS: LISA JEWELL

Lisa Jewell has become a regular staple in my reading repertoire and her novel #thenshewasgone was one of the best thrillers I read in 2018. So, you know, when she drops a new novel that I am all here for it. This 420-page psychotic masterpiece was probably the most sinister of her books to date. It was eerie, it was suspenseful, and it was intoxicating. This booked sucked me right into its pages and reality only hit me when I read the last page.

One thing that I have come to expect from Lisa Jewell is that despite what your thoughts maybe with regards to the outcome it always seems to differ substantially to the actual truth. What starts of as a typical thriller narrative: three dead bodies, three missing children and a 7-million-pound inheritance (okay, not so typical), it is never as straightforward as this. Jewell has a very clever way of giving her readers a massive portion of the storyline quite early on but then taking them on a rollercoaster of a ride before finally presenting her bombshell at the end.

We are introduced to many character’s and read many points of views and although you may feel confused initially you will see eventually how all these key players are somehow connected. In this intense psychological suspense, we jump timelines from past to present with accounts that all intertwine with each other effortlessly.

The blurb does not do the book justice at all so when you read it for yourself, the actual experience is just phenomenal. The writing is addictive and the short hanging chapters that she writes leaves you wanting more because each is left with an unanswered question. I became obsessed with finding out the truth because every theory I had was blown out of the water. It is probably the most twisty, suspenseful, roller coaster of a book that I have read of hers.

I don’t know if I can say too much about her character ‘Henry’ without stepping into spoiler territory but wow what a psycho. Do I like him? Do I hate him? Does he need help? I don’t know but to leave a cliff-hanger like that was something fresh and unique and I really digged that.

Netgalley thank you so much for my copy of ‘The Family Upstairs’ and Penguin UK I need a physical copy of this book ASAP.

The book is due to published August 2019 so add this one to TBR. You won’t regret it.

Zubs

A superbly written book that maintained my interest throughout - no sections where you want to speed read! The book is split into 3 story threads - 2 present day concurrent stories for 2 of the main characters and the third from 25 years ago that gradually unravels the events that have led to the current situation
Not really a book of twists and turns but a book that gradually brings to light past and present. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I found myself easily getting into the main characters,
Thoroughly recommended.

Lisa Jewell has written another fabulous book which kept me guessing right until the end. She plotted the story perfectly and the impending sense of doom for the characters creeps up slowly until suddenly everything crashes down. There was no blood or gore or anything that usually puts me off about thrillers but rather a mystery that unfolded, gently at first and then more rapidly as the book went on. A real page turner!

I love Lisa Jewell as an author and was keen to read her latest book. It took a little while to get into which I think were down to the amount of main characters running through the plot, and the fact that two of the main characters had similar names.
After this, I loved the book, it pops back and forwards in time and is told from different people's perspectives, but it's a great tale spread over many years of love, betrayal, torture and smooch more.
When Libby turns 25 she inherits a house, but what happened to the people who lived there and some were found dead twenty five years ago. What happened to everyone else in the house?

Thrilling, shocking, dark and mysterious, this book has it all.
Three decomposing adult bodies are found in a large house in Chelsea. It seems they committed suicide and the situation would be quite straight forward were it not for the clean, fed and happy baby found in its cot upstairs. Who has been caring for the baby? And what happened in the house to lead to this tragic scenario? The answers eventually untangle in a complicated story of love, hate and deception spread over many years. Told from the perspective of three different people, this book is well thought out and takes the reader into the past as well as the present. This has a satisfying conclusion with answered questions but leaves a delicious hint of doubt. My only tiny criticism is the title - it is slightly misleading but in no way prevents total enjoyment of this excellent book.

Fabulous book, I wasnt immediately hooked but persevered as I am familiar with Lisa Jewell's work and have never been disappointed. I wasnt long in getting hooked though and finished it in a day! Great characters, fabulous twisty bits and a great ending. I did sometimes have to stop and think who was who as there was a lot of characters.

Yes, yes, they are cliches we are apparently not supposed to use. But 'I couldn't put it down' and 'I read it in one* sitting' (*OK, two) could not be more appropriate to describe this book, so I am going with them nonetheless. I was absorbed from the first page to the last and gripped throughout. Bravo Lisa Jewell.

Told in three strands, two present day and one past, this is a complex weaving together of a house with a troubled past. Libby, adopted as a baby, inherits at age 25 the house her birth parents had left to her - the house where they were found dead, along with the body of a third stranger, and she was discovered alive and healthy in her cot. As Libby tries to find out the truth about what happened in that house, the two other storylines creep ever closer, each one led by a character who also needs to return to the house and resolve what happened. My favourite aspect was the past storyline, which slowly twists and turns to reveal a comfortable, well-to-do Chelsea family infiltrated by controlling strangers who gradually take over. It’s dark and twisty and enjoyable, but there was a very involved subplot that I wasn’t sure added much - perhaps it was a sort of red herring. But overall a good psychological thriller.

A really well written thriller that kept me guessing!!! Rare for a seasoned mystery and thriller reader. Loved the multiple points of view and the switching of past to future; this made for a great, engaging puzzle read. Deep and complex enough to keep me hurtling through the pages needing answers. I enjoyed the mysterious darkness in this Jewell novel. my cup of tea! Enjoyable and likeable characters, depth in the plot and a sinister tone to the compelling family drama.
A very happy reader!

At 24 years old Libby Jones is just a typical young woman, working and scrapping by with life's little luxuries when she can afford them. At 25 years old Libby Jones is informed that she has inherited an almost mansion type house in Chelsea worth a few million. Libby also finds out about how she had been found and adopted as a baby. Not even close to the story she had been told as a child.
Meanwhile in France Lucy tells her two children, Marco 12 and Stella 5 that they have to get to the UK to meet the baby who will be 25 years old now.
The third cog is Henry Lamb, who tells the story of the house his parents, his sister and he use to live in. The privileged lifestyle, wanting for nothing and comings and goings of the wealthy friends of his parents with regular outings with his socialite mother. Then one day people came to stay, just for a little while he is told but life will never be the same again.
This is one tremendous story and it unwound and came together with perfection. When Libby opens the door to her inheritance, it is like walking back into the house twenty-five years ago. Everything is like it was the day it was locked up with the exception of three dead bodies which had long been removed and when a water pipe had to be mended. But someone was in the house, she heard them.
The story unfolds with chapters that piece together how life had been for the family and the drastic changes that were to take over all of their lives. In present-day Libby is determined to find the truth about so many unanswered questions from the past.
This is one mesmerising book that I absolutely adored. Each chapter from the past grew darker with a sense of sheer helplessness for the children as times goes on. I felt so frustrated that I could have burst. How could this happen? Why didn't someone know? But who really wants to get involved in other people's business? I read so much of the later chapters with a hand over my mouth, unable to believe what I was seeing, and I don't mean words. The pictures in my mind were strikingly vivid and real but I couldn't, not look.
I am bowled over and absolutely loved the end, even the shiver it put down my spine! Just pure magic!
I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

Rating 3.5

In a beautiful riverside house in Chelsea London there is a baby girl in her Harrods cot in the upstairs bedroom. She is well-fed, clean and cared for.

In the kitchen below lies three decomposing bodies. Close to them is a hastily written note and they have been dead for quite a few days.

So who was looking after the baby and where are they now?

Libby has turned 25 and has now been contacted by the solicitors of the family who lived there as she now owns the property. She discovers she was the baby left behind and no-one else ever came forwards to claim the estate. With the help from a journalist who wrote a piece on the story, she sets about trying to find her family.

This story is told from multiple POVs, flipping between the past leading up to the bodies being found, and the present but I found it was confusing at times working out whose section I was actually reading. Sometimes it was clear, other times it took a good few paragraphs for it to click into place.

There is also a section where Libby is describing her work colleague, Dido and five times in a row the author starts each sentence "She knows..." and another time one after another the use of "unexpectional" is used twice.

Apart from that, thoroughly enjoyed the story, bit dark at times, though as you read it you understand why.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.