Review of THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS by Lisa Jewell (New Release)

3 Stars

The story is narrated from multiple perspectives and alternating timelines.  In the present, Libby Jones turns 25 and learns she has inherited the mansion in which her parents were found dead when she was an infant.  Also in the present, we are given the viewpoint of Lucy, a homeless woman with two children, living in France.  When she realizes that Baby has turned 25, she decides she must return to London.  The final narrator is Henry who explains the past - what happened in the mansion when people moved in with his family.

On the plus side, the book is a quick read.  The short chapters make it easy for the reader to put down the book and later pick up the narrative.

On the negative side, there is very little suspense.  There is mystery, a lot of unanswered questions, but an experienced reader will have no great difficulty figuring out what happened and who is who.  For me, the first real instance of suspense occurs in Chapter 39, well past the midway point of the book.  Obviously, I didn’t read the same book as the many people who have described the book as twisty.

What is annoying is the purposely vague narration.  Why does Lucy refer to the child found in the mansion as Baby?  Lucy of all people would know the child’s name.  Why does Lucy say “her name is fake” when it’s not?  Henry is obviously an unreliable narrator but his constant withholding of information becomes annoying after a while.  Even the title is misleading because though people do move into the mansion, they do not live separately from the household.  If they did, the plot would not develop as it does.

A major element that is missing is an explanation for Henry’s parents allowing six people to move into their home and take over their lives.  Because we do not have the perspective of the parents, I found their behaviour difficult to accept.  Can people be so naïve and blind?  A teenaged boy understands what is happening but adults don’t?

There is much that is unrealistic.  For years, people cannot be found and then they are all easily found?  How inept can police investigators be?  At least four deaths are never thoroughly investigated.  The ending is somewhat unbelievable and rather gimmicky.

The book is entertaining, but it’s not a thriller.  The mysteries unravel predictably and too conveniently. 

Note:  I received a digital galley of the book from the publisher via NetGalley.