Member Reviews

An atmospheric and gripping story that kept me absolutely hooked from page one. Jewell handles a complex family, multiple narratives and unreliable narrators with a deftness that allows the reader to never feel confused about who/what/when is happening. The perfect read for a cosy weekend!

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Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the review copy. This is an unbiased review of the author's work and style. If you want plot lines and spoilers please see the publishers blurb and other reviewers' reports.
This is my first Lisa Jewel but it will not be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about the book. The author's style is authoritative and compelling. I was carried along at first puzzled as to what was going on then intrigued by the plot's development and finally hooked by the mystery.
It has been a long time since I have read a new to me author and so enjoyed the experience. If you are looking for a straight forward tale with introduction of the characters, the telling of the tale and a predictable ending then this volume is not for you.
If it's summer when you read this grab a jug of Pimms for Winter I recommend an open fire, phone turned off a bottle of your favourite tipple a snug armchair and a reading light. Put out the cat, walk the dog say goodnight to your nearest and dearest and read the night through - you'll be well rewarded.
A great read and well worth the five stars I'll give it.
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On her twenty-fifth birthday Libby - an ordinary suburbanite - inherits an incredible house. But the house has an intriguing and macabre past that holds the story of Libby’s own past.
This novel skips backwards and forwards in time and narrator, as the story of the extraordinary family who owned the house unfolds.
Jewell is a great story-teller and although this tale is objectively hard to believe, it seems completely believable in her expert hands.
The novel is pacey and original and Jewell ties everything up in a most satisfactory way.
Recommended for lovers of a good story with both great characterisation and plot.

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I'm a big fan of Lisa Jewell's thrillers so was really excited to read this. There are a lot of characters in the book and the chapters flip between them and also periods in time so I found it a little hard to follow at times. Libby has just turned 25 and inherited a house from her birth parents. The house has a sketchy past and she starts to look into her history. The book is gripping and interesting but I did get confused with the number of characters telling the story from their point of view. Overall I did enjoy it but perhaps not as much as her previous novels.

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** Spoilers!!!***

I actually requested this book as I thought it was by an author I had previously read but I was wrong. However, I am very glad I requested it!

I found Lucy to be the most interesting character throughout the book - I wanted to know how she had become homeless and how she would get out of the situation. I also liked the stories of what happened in the house 25 years ago and how it came to be how it was today.

I found the writing style excellent and the changing between the present day and 'before' to be seamless. There were a few surprises for me too which I like - I didn't want to be able to guess everything from the beginning and it certainly kept me thinking about who could be who.

The only slight criticism I have was that I felt the ending was rushed; it would have been good to have read of Henry and Phin (Finn)'s reunion, and how he got to the current country and occupation he was found in.

All in all, a good read and I look forward to reading more from this Author.

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I’ve read most of Lisa Jewell’s previous books and really like how her style has evolved. This is a very dark novel with many negative overtones and plenty of twists. When twenty five year old Libby inherits her late parents house she has no idea that she’s opening Pandora’s box. Adopted as a baby she was aware her parents had died but had no clue as to the reality of the situation. Told from three alternating viewpoints this tells of what happened in the years running up to the discovery of Libby in her cot whilst downstairs there are three dead bodies. This is a very character based rather than high action story but definitely creepy and can’t help but make you wonder if you know just what goes on behind closed doors.

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Couldn't put this book down and read it in two sessions. It wasn't what I was expecting but I instantly connected with that main protagonist- Libby, I liked the multiple narrators and time lines, especially going back to through time.
I'd definatley recomend this book to my friends.

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I was so excited about reading the latest Lisa Jewell and this novel definitely lived up to my expectations. It’s such a page turner, full of mystery. I read it quickly but sometimes put it down just to delay getting to the end as I was so enjoying it. The situation in the house becomes disturbing and there are some dark moments but it’s a thoroughly good read with characters you’re rooting for (Libby, Lucy and her children and dog) and others who aren’t quite what they seem. The plot is original and full of surprises. A great read!

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Libby lives in St Albans in a small flat she carefully saved for and bought, she works as a kitchen designer and is coming up to her 25th birthday. On her birthday she gets a surprise present - she inherits a huge house in Chelsea from the birth parents she knows little about.

Lucy and her two children are living a hand to mouth existence in Nice. Sometimes they are on the streets, sometimes in a hostel when Lucy can earn enough money busking with her violin.

How these two women’s stories are linked and what are the secrets of Libby’s family forms the plot of this latest thriller from Lisa Jewell. It’s a page turner and the twists don’t disappoint. It manages to be warm as well as chilling at times. I enjoyed it a

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Another gripping read from Lisa Jewell! I literally couldn't put it down.

As usual, I will not reiterate any of the plot line (plenty of that type of review around if that's what you're looking for!) but will just record my own opinions and feelings.

I was fascinated and appalled by the way the family's lives could be taken over, and equally disturbed by some of the consequences. Equally disturbing was the fact that although few characters seemed to have any morals or scruples - and their behaviour was quite shocking at times - many of them were very likeable.

Happily, "The Baby" seems to have grown up in a different mould, and thank goodness for that!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for my honest review.

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Another stonker of a novel! Lisa’s books just get better and better. I really enjoyed this one, different from most, of stood out due to the precision of her writing.

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I found this an enjoyable read. It is a complex story focussing on various times and characters. The author chooses not to indicate time, for example heading a chapter "now' or 'then" This can be confusing as the next chapter opens with different people in a different time without warning, It took the first part of the book to sort this out. I found it difficult to warm to any of the characters but I was interested to read on and find out more details as the story unfolded. The long years in the family house when the owners were taken over/brain washed seems improbable. There were social services in the 80s so how were these children allowed to disappear from the education system?
It is an unusual concept which makes it an interesting read.

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The Family Upstairs


Another fantastic novel by Lisa Jewell full of suspense, twists and excitement! This book had me gripped from the very beginning and had me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire novel. Lisa Jewell does a brilliant job of telling the story through 3 different viewpoints and I found myself invested in each of them equally.

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I was intrigued by the premise of this novel - 3 adults lie dead in the kitchen of a big house in Chelsea, while a healthy baby is in her cot upstairs. She's been cared for and had her nappy changed much more recently than the deaths of the people downstairs. So how has this all happened and who has been looking after the baby?

The novel is told from lots of different perspectives, gradually revealing the story of what took place in the house. One of the perspectives is the baby, now 25 and inheriting the house that has been held in trust for her. As she starts to investigate what happened, different figures from the past emerge and lots of stories about her family start to come together.

I'll admit that this wasn't quite what I thought I was going to read - I expected a simple whodunit, but it's far more complex than that. I did find myself caught up in it and read it quickly, even though I found some of the subject matter a bit distasteful and darker than my usual preferences. Still, it's well written and interesting and definitely worth a read.

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Set in the south of France and Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, this novel explores the impact on four children of the megalomaniac sociopath with whom they live. David Thomsen does not only chip away at their self-esteem until they believe they are helpless; he also ensures that no other grown-up is able to intervene. His final grand gesture appears to be to persuade all of the adults in the house to join him in a suicide pact.
Twenty-five years after this notorious event, the youngest child of the sect, a baby known as Serenity at the time of the deaths, and now named Libby, living contently as a kitchen planner in St Albans, is informed that she has inherited a huge house in Chelsea, the house in which she was born. Little does she know that her unknown relations are very much aware of this. All roads lead to London and, as the story unfolds back and forth between the current day and the 1990s, the reader begins to appreciate the destruction wrought on all these lives.
Lisa Jewell’s prose is eminently readable even though she often focuses on traumatic events. The reader is soon swept along as Jewell weaves together different strands of this narrative and it is very easy to picture the settings, the characters’ features and, sometimes, their emotions. Nevertheless, whilst this tale explores many disturbing events, there are moments when life-changing factors are glossed over rather than explored. This superficial treatment distracts from the overall impact of the tale: outcomes from some of the really significant issues are little more than plot twists. Lisa Jewell can write popular fiction which gives serious topics the respect they deserve, as seen in her depiction of the young people in her previous novel, ‘Watching You’. ‘The Family Upstairs’ is not so successful in this respect.
My thanks to NetGalley and Century, Penguin Random House UK for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

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This is an unusual context for a novel with interesting characters. It is also well written with several different strand brought together to a satisfying conclusion. However,it goes back and forward in time without that being signalled to the reader. Parts of it use " I" without it aleays being clear who that is. It jumps too in time as well as in location which can be confusing. There are also many characters,some with distractingly similar names. This is a book with considerable potential. It needs extensive editing with more reader signposts.

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What can I say another fantastic book by Lisa Jewell. I read this in one sitting. I am not going to give a synopsis just suffice to say if you can read it it is one of the best books so far this year. 10 /10.

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Do not start this book until you have a good block of time to read it- it's impossible to put down! I read it late into the night and when I fell asleep reading it, it haunted my dreams until I woke up and finished it.

Lisa Jewell is a fantastic storyteller and this book is an exciting and gripping tale of a family like no other. The blurb itself intrigued me- who was looking after the baby and who were the adults? I was keen to start reading and unravel the mystery but there are so many twists and turns that I was kept guessing until the end.

The characters are likeable, realistic and well rounded. I found Lucy particularly interesting and her emotional journey was a difficult read in places. The whole book was cleverly woven together and scarily believable.

I recommend this book wholeheartedly and urge you to read it as soon as you can- you really won't regret it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for my copy of The Family Upstairs. I know I'll be reading it again!

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Uncannily good and totally gripping. One that will remain in your mind long after you have finished it. A page turner that keeps you guessing right until the end. Likeable characters with just a touch of bad, and bad characters with just a hint of redemption. And pure evil, taking advantage of the weak and impressionable. Lisa Jewell is a first rate storyteller and I highly recommend this book.

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My thanks to Random House UK, Lisa Jewell and NetGalley for my ARC of The Family Upstairs.
Oh my goodness! If you want to read this one make sure you put aside enough time to read it in one go because you won't want to put it down. It's such a unique story with so many twists and turns that you just can't stop reading.
I love stories about old houses and THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS didn't disappoint.
In a Chelsea mansion are three dead bodies dressed in black tunics, and upstairs in a beautiful cot bought from Harrods is a baby girl. There is a scribbled note left next to the body of a woman, asking whoever finds the baby to take care of her. She is well-fed and has been cared for. So how has she come to be alone and what happened to the people downstairs?
Libby receives a letter from a solicitor informing her she is the sole beneficiary in a will.
Lucy lives in poverty in France with her children, Marco and Stella. All Lucy wants is to get back to London.
Henry is a computer whizz who has made a fortune in the industry. He deliberately rents an apartment where he can see into a house in Chelsea.
Clemency lives in Cornwall but has never stopped thinking about her brother Phinn whom she last saw when she was fourteen.
A once beautiful house and it's dark and horrific secrets connects them all. But how? One of my favourite reads so far this year.

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