I was sucked into this compelling, twisty well written thriller from the first page. The multiple viewpoints were well realised and it was an effective device for retaining interest and keeping the reader a little disorientated. I was up reading late in the night just to find out what on earth had really happened. Gripping stuff, it's the perfect holiday read!

I have read many titles by this author, but this was not my favourite. I enjoyed it, but I found it confusing, skipping from one character to another, and without a clear divide. I think that says more about me and my advancing years than it does about the author. It was a fascinating story.

I absolutely loved this book- really could not put it down! So many colourful characters, the story told so beautifully and so many twists that just came coming. Definitely one I will be recommending to everyone.

Full of surprises
8 August 2019
Format: Kindle Edition
Very muddled start _ several scenarios one after the other in different places and different years. This is the third book that I've read recently, by different authors, using this method but this is more people and more time zones than most _ very confusing! As the mystery unfolds the reader is drawn into the story and the book becomes a real 'page turner'. Lots of twists and surprises come swift as the pace quickens. The last chapter is brilliant and rounds off an excellent book

This was slow to start and became quite tedious at times.
Not a good introduction to this new-to-me author.

When Henry and Lucy's mother and father decide to let strangers move into their family home, life as they know it takes a dramatic turn for the worse. For years they have to endure abuse from a man and woman who believe they are superior to every other member of the household.
Will they ever be out of the clutches of evil?
I thoroughly enjoyed The Family Upstairs. With each turn of the page you want, more and more, a happy ending for the poor children that were subjected to the horrors of what can only be described as a cult.

Lisa Jewell is a new author to me. I was gripped from the beginning. I loved the twists and turns as the story unfolded. It was a book I didn't want to put down. A brilliant read and a story I won't forget in a while.

I'm afraid I just couldn't get into this book and put it down. I couldn't get to grips with any of the characters. I'm surprised because I love Lisa Jewell's books. Whilst I've given this feedback here, I won't review this book on any other social media platforms until I've actually read it all the way through. I've only left a star rating here because I've had to.

Dark, twisted ... and enthralling! This one grabbed me from the very first and only loosened it's grip on the very final page.

Following several different threads, this starts off as a really puzzling read; it took me some time to get into the rhythm of it and to begin to separate out the characters in my head, but the time just flew by! With so much happening, it grabbed my attention throughout and whilst the ending made perfect sense I didn't work it out until it was in front of me in black and white.

This is an amazing read, from an author who knows exactly what she's doing. Cleverly structured, creatively plotted and beautifully written with wonderful characters I revelled in this novel, and enjoyed everything about it. An absolutely mesmerising read and one I cannot recommend highly enough. I'm rather in awe of authors like Lisa Jewell who not only manage to come up with a bestseller but succeed in doing so time and time again. Such talent and skill! This is totally different to anything else I've read and as such, is worth a full five stars.

My thanks to publisher Cornerstone Digital for approving my copy via NetGalley. This is, as always, my honest and original review.

Firstly, I appreciate the opportunity to being given this book.

I think I had difficulties reading this text, for the reason that the switches between characters were different in styles that it was hard to figure out straight away what character was speaking and at what point.

The concept was incredible, but I struggled with keeping with the narrative

Lisa Jewell is one of my favourite authors so I was thrilled to get my hands on an early copy of The Family Upstairs. I was utterly gripped right from the start - I read the second half in a day! It has everything I love in a book - an old family mystery, a big spooky house, and a thoroughly creepy atmosphere.

Libby Jones works hard selling designer kitchens to the rich and famous but still only scrapes a living. She has a long-term plan: a few more years in her job and, if she's not been promoted, she's off. Then she receives a letter. She's inherited a house in the famous Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, worth millions. The drawback? Once the home of a weird cult, it was supposedly the scene of a bizarre suicide pact twenty-five years ago - the only survivor was baby Libby. But what really happened that night?

The story is told from three points of view. Libby, Henry (a young boy who lived in the house), and a middle-aged woman now living a hand-to-mouth existence in the South of France. How are these very different people connected?

It would be far more fun for you to read this story without knowing too much about it! So I'll just say I loved the old house, with it's 'hidden' (servants') staircase and sinister locked rooms. Henry was my favourite character, along with Miller - the slobby investigative journalist who helps Libby uncover the secrets in her past. There's a nod to a famous 90s movie about a real-life murderer, the story is jam-packed with twist after twist, the characters are thoroughly engaging, and the final line is an absolute classic. Brilliant stuff!

The Family Upstairs is my favourite read this year and I have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who loves a clever, twisty mystery with a dollop of chilling gothic suspense.


Thank you to Lisa Jewell and Cornerstone (Random House) for my copy of this book, which I requested via NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Let’s start with the easy bits. The Family Upstairs is another stand-out domestic thriller from Lisa Jewell. It’s a tale that is compelling and twisty. It holds the attention of the reader long after they have come to the end. It’s about power, and survival, and recovering, and not recovering. It describes battles of wills. And it features Jewell pushing the boundaries of the genre, playing with form and function and purposefully blending frothy language with altogether darker themes.
We experience the story through three voices and across two effective timelines: a first person narrator, an everywoman outsider and a woman whose identity is unclear until the last few pages. The tale is the mystery of a house in Chelsea in which three dead bodies and a very much alive baby are found. In the preceding years, a dull upper class family of four had become a dysfunctional community of eleven: a commune gone wrong evocative (oddly) of Animal Farm in its deception and multiple betrayals. How could this happen and what has occurred since?
Technically, this novel is outstanding. Jewell manipulates us readers by allowing us to trust (or not) the three narrators. And the three threads of the narrative weave together and apart, allowing us to contrast and compare, and to consider their reliability and honesty. The shifting sands reflect the key moments of the novel, in which power moves between individuals in a household, both through decisive episodes but also the steady rhythms of oppression over time.
It’s hard to say much more without straying the wrong side of the spoiler line, but I found the second half of the book almost unremittingly bleak. By this time conditions inside the Chelsea house have deteriorated well beyond normal acceptable behaviour. You are compelled to continue to read, but it’s desperately sad stuff. We assume that at least one person who was a child during the commune has gone on to be equally mistreated in the outside world.
What keeps us going is the characters: with the exception of Everywoman, we revel in the ambiguities we’re given. We’re forced to pick sides, especially when fire meets fire. There’s only one truly cardboard character - the shallow abuser Michael - and in his case we feel that Jewell has had rather too much fun creating him. That said, I think it would have been interesting to explore the character of the antagonist, David, in more detail, How had he become what he became?
An unpredictable psychological and domestic thriller, incredibly thoughtful and carefully crafted, though the grimness of some of the events described mean I can’t recommend it for everyone.

Libby has just turned 25 and been left a house. She soon learns it has a very dark past and she is the lost baby. Lucy is homeless and desperate to go home but how. She finds herself having to turn to her ex for help but at what cost. Henry tells the story of the house and its tragic past. Soon all three lives will intertwine and the truth will be known.

This was a story filled with twists. It jumps from the future with Lucy and Libby to the past with Henry. It was a fascinating story and I only figured out a couple of the twists. The plot was interesting and the ending was so good. I'm quite a fan of Lisa Jewell so I knew this would be good and it delivered.

On her 25th Birthday Libby inherits a eight bedroom house in Chelsea . The house is quite rundown . While there Libby who was adopted finds out more about her family..
Her mother & father and another man where found dead with a note suggesting suicide . A 10 month old baby (Libby) was found upstairs in her cot. But there was rumours that their was two other children who lived there but no trace of them was found..
The more you read of this book the past & present come together .
Thanks Netgalley

I went into this book blind , I hadn’t read the blurb or any reviews ,Lisa Jewell is one of my favourite and go to authors so I was excited to read this new one .

This book definitely shows Lisa’s talent . Past and present worlds collide, it was a complex story set in in dual time , it had me immersed in it from the start and totally different to what I was expecting and I loved it. It is told from multiple POV , Libby , Lucy and Henry , but I found it easy to follow ,

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?
Two entangled families.
A house with the darkest of secrets.

One house..
Two families...
Three bodies ....

I’m a huge Lisa Jewell fan and although I really enjoyed this one it wasn’t my favourite of hers. That said, it’s still a great psychological thriller about dysfunctional families, secrets and lies. Intriguing and unnerving in equal measure. The complex storyline is full of twists and turns and is skillfully told from multiple points of view as well as two timelines.

Lisa Jewell fans are in for a treat.

Wow this book was awesome. I cannot express enough how much I loved this book. It is told by 3 different characters. It is really a story filled with lots of drama, tensions, lies and secrets. I cant recommend it hightly enough.

A new book by Lisa Jewell is always a cause for celebration, and while this wasn't my favourite (it will take a lot to topple "watching you" from that spot) it contained all her hallmark twists. The characters, and the relationships between them, were well drawn , and I enjoyed the multi character narration, but did occasionally find the plot a bit too unbelievable to become fully immersed in it.

Thank you to netgalley and Random house for an advance copy of this book

Oh my goodness, this story absolutely blew me away.
Henry and Lucy are brother and sister, they live with their parents in an affluent area of London, attend the most prestigious schools and have their uniforms bought at Harrods, overall they have a very comfortable life. Until that is, a family come to stay who have fallen on hard times and their lives start to change dramatically.
This thriller bounces back and forth between the 80’s/90’s and modern day, each short chapter being the viewpoint of various characters, but is very easy to follow.

I was totally hooked, a thoroughly enjoyable read.

My thanks to Random House U.K. Cornerstone/Century for an eARC via NetGalley of Lisa Jewell’s ‘The Family Upstairs’ in exchange for an honest review.

Following her twenty-fifth birthday Libby learns that she is to inherit 16 Cheyne Walk in Chelsea. Although she knew that she had been adopted at a young age and was due to inherit something, she wasn’t prepared for such a enormous bequest. She also learns of the tragedy that occurred in the house: that three adults were found dead including Henry and Martina Lamb, apparently having been part of a suicide pact. Ten-month old Serenity is found in her cot. There was no sign of the couple’s teenage son and daughter. According to Lamb’s will the house technically is to be shared between the three children.

This complex narrative is split three ways between Libby, Lucy, and Henry. Lucy is in France with her two children and is currently homeless living hand-to-mouth. She receives a text message: ‘The baby is 25’ and prepares to return to England.

Henry, named for his father, serves as narrator for the events that took place at the house. His mother invites Birdie, a rock star, and her friend David, a physiotherapist, to move into their luxurious home. David is officially there to assist in the elder Henry’s recovery from a stroke. His wife and two children accompany him. He is a very charismatic person who soon begins to impose his cultish ideas on the others. This situation goes on for five years before the tragedy that led to the dead bodies.

This certainly was a fascinating premise. However, the continual shifting between the present and past as well as the number of characters left me feeling rather confused.

It was an interesting read though on reflection I didn’t feel much connection with the characters. Some parts impressed me while others fell flat. I rather hoped for more details about Justin’s interest in modern witchcraft.

I was however quite impressed with the conclusion. While this was the first novel that I have read by Lisa Jewell’s I know that she is highly regarded by a number of my friends and certainly will consider reading more of her work.