There is a very posh house on a very posh street in Chelsea that is now the property of one Libby Jones. Libby has just turned twenty-five. Adopted at a very young age, she doesn’t know anything about her past. But all that is about to change with this house.

Lucy is a single mom of two young children in France. Her life has been less than perfect and now she finds herself homeless. On a dismal morning waking up on the beach, she finds the message on her phone “the baby is 25.”

Henry tells us part of the story of the lives of the Lamb family. He tells us of his life both before and after they opened their home to a strange family. Henry explains how what appeared to be such a perfect and idyllic life turned into a living nightmare, and changed the paths for a group of children so dramatically.

Through these voices, we learn about the Lamb and Thomsen families and what transpired in that house on Cheyne Street 25 years earlier. Lisa Jewell is fabulous at hooking us into this story in just the prologue. She then unravels this story from the three points of view until we are left in awe. She is a master at keeping us in suspense and just feeding little bits of information along the way until we have the entire picture. I was kept spellbound from the beginning and only put the book down because I had to sleep or work.

Highly recommend this one! While I’d never read any of Lisa Jewell’s work before, I am now putting all of her books on my “to read” list. If this is any indication, she has an amazing ability to know exactly how to create rounded characters and a story that will hook you early and not let go.

4.5 stars on Goodreads


This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com on 20 October 2019 .

3.5 stars. This is my first Lisa Jewell book and I’m looking forward to reading more. The book started out a bit confusing with different times and different characters. We don’t really know who the characters truly are until later in the book. I still found it to be a page turner. I liked the ending, but I didn’t find this to be as much of a “thriller” as I had hoped. Still a good read.

This thriller about a family’s integration will keep you up long into the night. Once I got past the first few chapters of set-up, I couldn’t put it down. The characters are well-drawn and sympathetic, the plot is full of twists that kept me reading, and the ending was perfect. Highly recommend for thriller/mystery readers.

This novel had elements that I really enjoy about mysteries - multiple point of views and timelines. The story was entertaining enough to keep me pushing through this book quickly to discover the truth of the mystery, but this book felt choppy and I feel the jumping around could have flowed better. Jewell is an author that I will always return to though.

It feels a bit sociopathic to say that I enjoyed this book, but there it is. It’s nice to find something new (even if it’s utterly horrifying) in the psychological suspense world. I wish the original cover would have been on the final copy -- those stairs are perfection! Jewell presents this tale with the perfect sprinkling of mystery and creep factor. I felt like I could see this story on the nightly news, but it was also somehow completely new and unprecedented. I read a lot of psychological suspense, and this one had me absolutely gobsmacked time and again.

Sinister, seductive, and scary, Lisa Jewell’s The Family Upstairs is a masterpiece of the domestic thriller genre you won’t want to put down once you’ve started. You'll forever be leery of having house guests once you’ve finished.

The arrangement was meant to be temporary. When Justin and Birdie move into Henry's parent’s home, it’s supposed to be for just a few days, while her band films a music video there. But then the couple don’t leave, even after the shoot is finished. Instead, they bring friends, the friend’s children, a cat. Henry quickly realizes that his mum’s ‘guests’ are never leaving.  As he tells us at the start of the tale, “They lived with us for more than five years and they turned everything very, very dark.”

Twenty-five years later, Libby Jones receives a letter from a solicitor advising her of the identity of her birth parents and apprising her of the fact that she is the sole inheritor of their posh home in Chelsea. She also learns that when she was a baby, she had been found in that home by the police, alone except for three dead bodies. The corpses had all been dressed in black homespun, apparent members of a cult which had ended with a suicide pact.

But her dead parents and the mysterious man lying deceased beside them were not the only members of that cult. The others have been waiting for Libby to turn twenty-five, to inherit the house and finally come back to Chelsea. They are all so anxious to meet her. . . 

AAR reviewers Maggie and Shannon read The Family Upstairs and are here to share their thoughts on the novel.

Maggie: You and I both gave Then She Was Gone, one of Jewell’s 2018 releases, DIK status. I know we’re both big fans. I love her layered, subtle thrillers which slowly ratchet up the suspense until you’re desperate to get to the end. And those last pages always blow me away, they inevitably contain a twist I never saw coming. What draws you to her work?

Shannon: I love the originality of her stories. She can take themes I've read hundreds of times before and make them feel completely fresh and new. Plus, her twists always make so much sense after the fact. They totally blow my mind as I'm reading, but then, when I reflect back on the story as a whole, I'm able to see how much sense they make. That's something I don't always experience when I'm reading thrillers, so it makes her work stand out for me.

Maggie: This story is done in a dual timeline format, with Libby and a mysterious woman named Lucy as the narrators for the present day portion and Henry the narrator for the historical aspect of the tale. I felt that configuration worked perfectly, with Libby and Lucy’s sections having a much more straightforward mystery feel to them and Henry’s being atmospheric and gothic and chilling. I think the way they told their stories suited each of them. How about you?

Shannon: The dual timeline format works perfectly for this story. Henry's portions of it were the most disturbing to me, while the sections set in the present were intriguing in a different way. Needless to say, I was glued to my iPad once I started reading.

Maggie: I agree, the story was riveting; once started it’s almost impossible to put down. In any gothic story, the house is as much a character in the book as the people.  I know you love creepy old houses and this book had one heck of a macabre manse. I wouldn’t have wanted to set foot in it from the start, given what we heard of the decor, but towards the end, after everything that happened? The house felt essentially malignant and dangerous to me. What were your thoughts about it?

Shannon: I loved that the author could make the house such a central part of the story without veering off into supernatural territory. It's not that I dislike supernatural books, but I tend to shy away from thrillers that go down that route. The Family Upstairs was wonderfully atmospheric in all the best ways, and that spooky house plays a big part in its perfection.

Maggie: I’ve mentioned that our three narrators are Lucy, Libby and Henry. I liked all three of them at the start, although one surprised me in the last chapters of the book. Still, I found myself feeling simultaneously horrified by, frightened by and oddly sympathetic towards that person. How did you feel about our narrators?

Shannon: Lucy was my least favorite. Her story was compelling, but she was someone I had a difficult time connecting with. The other two made up for that though, even when they made decisions I couldn't completely understand.

Maggie: Lucy was, I felt, the least fleshed-out of the three so I can understand why you didn’t connect with her. This is the second book we’ve both read this year - the first being Ruth Ware’s The Turn of the Key - with children whose parents’ negligence placed them in bad situations. I found that along with Birdie, the person I despised most was Martina, the mom who made that hellish home possible. What did you think of Martina and Birdie?

Shannon: Both women made some horrible choices that put all the children in horrible danger. I can't imagine growing up in their care. I wanted one of them, mostly Martina, to stand up for the kids and actually do something to save them from the mess their lives had become. Obviously, that couldn't have happened in the story Ms. Jewell created, but I still wanted it to occur.

Maggie: Me, too. I felt somebody should have done something and was disgusted that nobody did. Moving on: If the book had any weakness it was that the perverse leader of their cult was basically a stock figure, exactly what you would expect such a person to be. Did you feel he was well drawn, or would you agree he was a predictable sort of villain?

Shannon: I actually thought David was a pretty great villain, if such a thing exists. I would have liked to learn a bit more about his back story, but the glimpses we did get into his past misdeeds were super creepy.

Maggie: I guess I’ve read so many books with evil cult leaders that I found him predictable. I was engrossed in this book and couldn’t put it down once I’d started. It was a near perfect read for me and that shocking twist of an ending was breathtaking. I’m giving it an A. How about you?

Shannon: It gets an A- from me. It would have been utterly perfect if I could have connected more with Lucy. It's definitely another great piece of creepy fiction from Lisa Jewell, cementing her place on my list of favorite thriller writers.

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My copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review it.

This book was amazing and I could not put it down. It quietly put its hooks in me and would not let go until the last word.

The story is told from multiple points of view; all of which move the story along at a brisk pace. The reader is also taken back and forth in time as the narrators tell their parts of the story. As the pace of the book quickens and the tension mounts, the clever twists that slowly emerge keep you reading “just one more page, just one more chapter.”

This is a story of family; different kinds of family, to be sure, but still family. It’s often a violent story, but it is also the story of a young woman learning about her birth family and what tore them apart twenty-five years ago and how she deals with those actions in the present.

The Family Upstairs might be my favorite Lisa Jewell novel to date! This domestic suspense had everything I ever wanted: drama, mystery, lies, secrets, and crime.

On her 25th birthday, Libby gets a letter stating she has inherited her deceased birth parents mansion that is located on a posh street in Chelsea. She knows this inheritance will change her life financially, but she could have never known just how drastically her life is about to change. Libby is determined to find answers about her birth parents mysterious deaths and how the events of that fateful night unfolded.

The story was told in multiple points of view (Libby, Lucy, and Henry) which kept things fresh and interesting. I loved learning how each character was connected and how each story unveiled vital aspects of the mystery. The chapters were short and every sentence catalyzed the plot. This novel was chuck full of shocking twists and I simply could not put it down. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for a dark suspense filled with family drama and secrets.

A huge thank you to Atria and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked The Family Upstairs, a quirky thriller with some crazy characters. This story was a mystery with bits of information given out slowly until the ending witch wasn't so shocking but more delusional. I liked Libby. Lucy and Henry were I guess outcomes of their experience, unhinged at times. A good thriller and mystery, worth the read.
#TheFamilyUpstairs #NetGalley

I give The Family Upstairs 4 stars for its thrilling read.
I would recommend this book to Thriller/Mystery Fans.

Just finished this book and I have to confess I’m Not sure what I ever was!! I felt this book was not a thriller I was expecting- more of a drama. Majority of the book I’m trying to figure out who the various characters are and how they are all connected and some of it I’m still confused about! Book didn’t have much excitement for me and kind of have a slow pace throughout. Sadly would not recommend.

Shortly after Libby’s 25th birthday she receives a letter she knew would be coming eventually. This letter would finally answer the questions around who she is. Come to find out, Libby is left a mansion. While dealing with this shock, Libby is unaware that others have been waiting for the day the mansion becomes hers as well.

This book was odd. It was a very twisted story and it kept me wanting to know what had happened to Libby’s family, but it also had me shrugging my shoulders a few times thinking “huh?” Overall I enjoyed the story and I sped through it, but I’m not sure it was exactly what I was expecting or hoping for.

THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS is a stunner! If my progress through the novel were captured in animation, my head would be twitching back and forth and quite frequently spinning. So convoluted that the book's cover image should be the new illustration for that term!


The novel is fascinating, horrifying, startling, mysterious, expansive, illuminating. I couldn't move my eyes from the page. I felt compelled to read, and to read to completion. I can't recommend THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS highly enough.

I was excited to read this new novel by Lisa Jewell, as I have enjoyed her work in the past. This one was a bit too dark and creepy for me. And there was some subject matter that I didn’t care reading about. I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I’ll definitely read the author’s future books, but this one just wasn’t for me.

Big fan of Lisa Jewell's writing style and character development. Her stories grab my attention quickly and keep me up later than I should be. This thriller is filled with suspense and surprises.

LISA JEWELL HAS DONE IT AGAIN! Then She Was Gone was the first thriller I ever read and I absolutely fell in love with it. I've read some of Lisa Jewell's other books, and liked them all, but I didn't love any of them the way I loved Then She Was Gone. Then She Was Gone will forever be my favorite thriller, but boy does The Family Upstairs come in at a VERY close second. Huge shout-out to Atria books and Netgalley for sending me an eARC of one of my most anticipated releases of the year!

BOOK REVIEW: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

The Family Upstairs had me turning pages just as fast as Then She Was Gone did. As with all of Lisa Jewell's books, I loved the short chapters that always end with the perfect mini-cliffhanger to keep you reading well past your bedtime. I also really liked how the story was told from different points of view that all came together. The plot was unlike anything I have ever read before and I wasn't able to predict anything! While the ending was a lot different than I expected, I still loved the book overall.

I liked this book but it's not my favorite Lisa Jewell story. Set in England, this is a dark story of family and child abuse. Libby Jones is turning 25 years old and is about to find out about her past. I found the story just a little confusing jumping between two timelines and various characters in the story. I liked Libby and her search for the truth and she was the one consistent character I could follow. The story line was a little dark and confusing. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I received a galley of this book from Atria Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is only my second Lisa Jewell book but it has left me wanting to go back and read more from her. She definitely packed this story with all the right elements... a dysfunctional family, an odd and eerie mansion in Chelsea, a creepy cult, shady unstable characters, multiple murders, told on dual timelines with three POVs... y’all, it’s a lot! I don’t think this is the most believable read, but I don’t read thrillers for the ordinary or the expected. This is not a frightening suspenseful book; It is a carefully crafted whodunnit that kept me up late at night following the breadcrumb trail to figure out the truth. I do have a few small complaints about the ending, but I think that's just my preference and I don't want to spoil it for you! Regardless, I still enjoyed the book and see Lisa Jewell as another reliable author for a great read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher. I was really excited to receive an advanced copy of this, as I've become a big Jewell fan recently. Although I felt this one fell a little flat for my liking, I did still enjoy it. I found this book to be very similar to Ruth Ware's books, with lots of creepy, gothic-y elements to it. I did enjoy that it had some cult references, as cults and all creepy things really interest me, especially with Halloween right around the corner. I did feel rather confused at the beginning, having a difficult time keeping track of the characters and was a big confused of the timeline and what not, but it all straightened itself out to a deliciously creepy ending!

This was my second Lisa Jewell book and like the first, I couldn't put it down! There is a creepy mystery at the heart of this story, and I enjoyed the shifting between the different narrators. I think that this technique intensified the mystery and kept me turning the pages. I can say that I wouldn't mind a sequel but I am looking forward to reading more of Lisa Jewell's books! Now that I've read THEN SHE WAS GONE and now THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS, I'm ready for more. Thank you to Atria books for this advanced e-galley!!

This is my first book by Lisa Jewell so I don’t quite know how to gauge my reaction. The book was touted as being “bone-chilling suspense.” It definitely did not fill my expectation of suspense, but rather filled me with horror reading about an upright English family descending into the abyss of not only dysfunction, but cultism.

To me the biggest mystery or suspense had to do with how so many people got away with so many murders.

Along with that mystery was how did so many people (with children) manage to get by with no visible means of support (other than fiddling for pennies in the violin case) and no shelter.

Lots of holes. Lots of characters. But strangely enough a “happy ever after” ending for all. To its credit, it kept me reading to the very end. I’m sure Lisa Jewell fans will enjoy it, but it didn’t really jell with me.

I appreciate the ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.