Well what can I say another lisa Jewell masterpiece, love her books and this was no exception, gripping from start to finish, a great story with a great set of charecters, couldn't put it down

Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Henry and his sister Lucy had quite a privileged upbringing – a private education, a beautiful London home with all the trappings. That is until pop singer Birdie moves in. Then her boyfriend Justin. Then everyone else. Life is never the same again.

This is a well written book with a well constructed plot & great characters. Henry’s world is taken over by other people who are welcomed in by his Mother in an attempt to “find herself”. He watches as their life is taken over and their Father diminishes to dust. It is very clever the way the reader watches Henry’s world disintegrate & how he seeks to rebel as he gets older. You can’t help feeling that this situation has twisted Henry somehow.

The story flits between several threads which I had no problems in distinguishing. Written in the first person we have Henry’s recollection of the past and the loss of his childhood. Alongside this we follow Libby and Lucy in the present and written in the third person – Libby as she learns she has inherited a house and needs to discover who her birth family are. Lucy is on her uppers living from hand to mouth in Spain with two children in tow. Each thread is interesting and a story in itself & they are very satisfactorily bought together at the end.

I very much enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the characters & seeing what they had made of their lives from difficult circumstances. I enjoyed the clever way in which Henry tells the story of how his family lost their identity. There were just a couple of little niggles for me where things didn’t sit quite right but otherwise I loved it.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

Fabulous!! Love Lisa's books. This did not disappoint and I read the book in a couple of days. Please keep writing! Thanks for the opportunity to read the book

I have to be honest now - I've read a lot of Lisa Jewell and usually can't wait for a new book from her - but The Family Upstairs left me a little cold. Don't know if it was just me but I found the first part of the book/characters very confusing and had to keep re-reading back pages just to keep up with who-was-who. I certainly wouldn't classify it as a thriller as it just didn't thrill me at all! The protagonists were awful....clearly psychopaths...but the whole book just seemed to drag on and on with the story told from multiple POV's. Sorry Ms Jewell - not even CLOSE to your usual high standards. Oh how I HATE myself for saying that, however I did promise an honest review. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Having read Lisa Jewell before, I always look forward to the next novel. ‘The Family Upstairs’ is brilliant. An original story with numerous twists and turns keeping me intrigued and alert right up to the last page.

A well cared for baby is found in a house in a fashionable part of Chelsea, Cheyne Walk, with three dead bodies in the kitchen looking like a suicide pact. It appears as if the house was run by a cult but there is no explanation as to who has been looking after the baby.

Fast forward twenty-five years and the baby, Libby (Serenity) returns to claim her inheritance, which is the house, worth several million.

The narrative is told from Libby’s point of view in the present day when arriving at the house and how she uncovers the background, along with a journalist who investigated the house several years ago and from the historical view.

Henry and Lucy Lamb used to live in the house as children when their parents seemed to invite a couple to stay, and then another. A ‘normal’ existence disappeared rapidly for the two children along with all of their parents’ money and possessions.

The story from past to present is complex and clever. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and Lisa Jewell for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Brilliant Read, highly recommended.

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
Having read a number of Lisa Jewell’s psychological thrillers I was looking forward to starting this book and I wasn’t disappointed. The story opens on the 25th birthday of Libby Jones and we learn that she has been left a house in Chelsea which is worth in the region of 7 million pounds. Having been adopted at the age of 10 months Libby had tried to visualise how her parents died and what her life had been like. She had imagined them dying in a car crash. In truth they had seemingly been involved in a suicide pact and left Libby (or Serenity as we discover she is named) alone in the huge house.
The story of what led to this terrible event is revealed through chapters set in the past and the story of what is happening in the present is also gradually revealed form various perspectives. With the help of an investigative journalist Libby begins to unravel her tangled past but there are many mysteries to be revealed. The book did have some genuinely surprising moments and the ending was interesting.
A gripping story which has you desperate to find out what is going to happen next and will keep you reading late into the night. There were a couple of things I thought could have been more fully developed; I was surprised that there was not more about Libby’s adoptive family and what life had been like for her and I was fascinated how one of the characters had survived the intervening years and felt there was a lot more to discover about them. I would like to make it a 4 1/2 star review.
Many thanks to the publishers and to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

A Chelsea mansion house plays centre stage in this psychological thriller which sees Lucy inherit it as she approaches her 25th birthday. Adopted Lucy discovers she has a past and family she knew nothing of and on entering the house learns from the solicitor that she was discovered as a baby abandoned in a house with three decomposing bodies.
The story shifts through time frames to the family who lived in the house before Lucy was born and is told through the words of the different characters. Sometimes a little confusing as time frames and characters seemingly merged from time to time but I managed to decipher this and keep up with the plot
The house is home to a slightly quirky but wealthy family who are unhinged by the arrival of a manipulative and abusive but charismatic man who works his way in with devastating consequences.
I enjoyed the cultish angle of the story and the impact on the characters. It was at times a little unbelievable but it is a story after all and I could imagine a great mini series for TV coming from it.

A new Lisa Jewell book - hurrah!
This one is darker than usual, deeper, intriguing, shocking.
Henry and Lucy Lamb are privileged children brought up in a living family home in Chelsea, the family is fairly well off and they enjoy a good life. But gradually things start to change and ?Henry doesn’t know why. Then one day two strangers arrive and things go from bad to terrifying.
A provocative unsettling psychological drama which will make you grateful you live in your home not theirs

The Family Upstairs is an intriguing tale about a family torn apart by lies, secrets and cult-like manipulation.

It is written from the viewpoint of several characters and over different time periods, which I found took some concentration to follow at the beginning of the book, but I'm very glad I stuck with it as everything soon fell into place and what followed was well worth the patience!

At times dark and disturbing, the storyline is believable with twists and turns that compel you to keep reading to the satisfying ending. 4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Lisa Jewell does it again with another enthralling thriller, I was engrossed from the first page. On her 25th birthday, Libby inherits a large, dilapidated, house in Chelsea. Adopted as a baby she had no idea about her biological parents. As she begins to investigate her past and that of the house, she begins to uncover murder/suicides, a controlling cult, missing persons and an abandoned baby.

The novel is told in different timelines, and contains a lot of characters. At the start they are a little difficult to keep track of but once you to get into the story all becomes clear and you will be desperate to get to the end. This is a compulsive read with fascinating characters and a really intriguing plot. There are plenty of twists and turns and a cracking ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was not what I expected at all. I don't like to read *too* much into new books, especially thrillers, before I start them to try to ensure I remain surprised throughout. The Family Upstairs was a bit of a slow starter and I often struggle with books that share the perspective from multiple characters, but once I'd settled into the swing of it I couldn't put it down.

I did see some of the twists coming, and I found most of the characters to be pretty unlikeable, but it was a fascinating read nonetheless. It feels a bit more like a family drama than a thriller, which is maybe why it took me a little longer than anticipated to get into it, but what starts as dysfunctional relationships soon turns into a set of disturbing circumstances that will have you hooked.

The majority of books I read, are good, gripping, decent.....but then there are authors like Lisa Jewell who take storytelling to new levels ! This book was a fav one for me, it gripped me from the beginning with a dark story, compelling characters and I just couldn’t stop reading. Absolutely, highly recommend. 5/5 for me! Thank you so much!

Lisa Jewell writes well, and there was a lot of twists and turns which kept me wanting to read on. The book is written from the POV from three of the main characters, and it is not always clear who is narrating until you read further into the chapter. This adds suspense and drama, as you try and work out what is happening.
The story focuses around the Socialite family, the Lambs. As they become poorer, and the Father suffers from a stroke, they take in the Thomsen family, who start to take over, with sinister results.
I don't often read psychological thrillers, but I was offered the opportunity to read this book by Netgalley. As a fan of the Authors earlier books I was interested to read this. I thought that Lisa Jewell is skilful at changing genres, and makes the transition well.
I look forward to reading more books by her. I really enjoyed this book.

Really intriguing and entertaining - stop reading here if you don't want spoilers! - despite my having many scowly-faced questions about the cult aspect of the novel (I mean, even in the 80s, there would be questions about school attendance, poll taxes being paid, people to read the meters etc!) But the fun of a grim horror-house tale allowed me to coast past the nit-picking and enjoy the various twists and killings and escapes, despite not being convinced by the handily-available fake passports for dogs and people; the ability to support a family of three by busking; the idea of the protagonist hugging her self-confessed serial-killer brother about 5 minutes after finding out he's been tracking her all along and then going on safari with him and her murderous sister .... suspend your cynicism and just go along for the ride :)

Brilliantly written, believable characters and storyline- this kind of thing does happen!! Clever manipulation & lives built around lies. Lisa Jewell does it again! 5 stars.

This was an easy to read, well written book. It has quite a few twists and turns and things are not always as they seem. I adored the mystery of this plot, of not knowing exactly what happened or even whose point of view you were reading from at times. I enjoyed trying to figure it all out while getting to know the characters and putting the pieces together. I don't want to give away too much of the story and spoil the mystery.

In a large house in London’s fashionable Chelsea, a baby is awake in her cot. Well-fed and cared for, she is happily waiting for someone to pick her up. In the kitchen lie three decomposing corpses. Close to them is a hastily scrawled note. They’ve been dead for several days. Who has been looking after the baby and where did they go?

Umm so where do I begin with this book? My main point to say with this is stick with it and if you are finding it hard-going, keep ploughing through. It will get better! Eventually anyway. This really does feel like a book of two halves, the first half is very confusing, slow-moving and did not have a lot that kept my interest. Whereas the second half has more action, thrills and excitement and I was gripped by the events and wanted to know the truth. However, there were never any shocking twists that left me astounded, something I think this read could have desperately done with.

The way Jewell writes this is the reason why I found the first half so confusing, deliberately we do not know who our narrators are or how they connect. Now, I am all for an intriguing, mysterious read but I think the reader needs something to grab onto. I thought this had too much mystery and there was nothing tangible to connect with. I did not develop an initial connection to the plot and then this was hard to find later on, for me, there needed to be something more to pull me in and keep me interested.

I did enjoy the characters, they are quirky, fascinating characters who were enjoyable to get to know. Libby was easily my favourite but then we know more about her the whole way through. Again, the characters link to the confusing beginning and I struggled to connect with them as I did not know their identities or how they fitted in. In the second half, I connected with them a bit and came to know their strengths and flaws but it was not like this for the whole read.

'The Family Upstairs' really is a book of two halves and I lived for the second half. The first part of this is not thrilling or engrossing and I really had to push through it, the second half is vastly improved and a lot more thrilling but still not enough for me and I was not kept intrigued or frantically turning the pages. This is more of a 3.5 star read but I am being generous and giving it 4.

Thank you to NetGalley and Century for an advance copy.

A really addictive read. This is a clever thriller, told in multiple viewpoints and I loved watching the characters' lives come together. I raced through it!

I really enjoyed reading this book. There's no doubt that Lisa Jewell is an excellent writer: her style is what I would describe as 'invisible', meaning that she doesn't interrupt the narrative with unnecessary flourishes of literary showing off, but lets her strong grip on plot and character and place speak for themselves. It's a lot harder than it looks. You have to be a very good writer to recede into the background and let your story come alive on its own terms.

I loved the way the history of what had really happened in the house gradually unfolded. The details of what the children went through were incredibly creepy and disturbingly plausible. I raced through the book, desperate to find out what would happen at the inevitable denouement.

Only two points prevented me from giving the book five stars, and I suspect they may be particular to me. One is that the denouement itself never really happened. The various twists and turns were fairly predictable; I was waiting for a last, final twist, and it never came.

The other is that I think Jewell skirted dangerously close to the tired old trope of 'villainous gay man driven mad by unrequited love for straight man'. Throughout the book, I felt an edge of unease wondering precisely where she was going to take this particular character. I was afraid she would make him a full-blown sociopath and knock the book down several notches in my estimation. And after the ending, I'm still not sure how to feel about this point. I think she got away with it, just, because on the whole, the portrait was nuanced and sympathetic. But all the same … I feel uneasy.

Overall, though, I would recommend the book for the writing alone, and I'd be interested in reading more books by Lisa Jewell.

The Family Upstairs is a brilliant read. The story is told through three peoples eyes, which I love and it really has you flying through the pages to find out more. A great read throughout.