Thriller Annotation: The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

(Photo by Sydney Webb)

Title: The Family Upstairs
Author: Lisa Jewell
Series: The Family Upstairs, #1
Genre: Thriller, but it could be a mystery or even suspense as well
Publication Date: 2019
Number of Pages: 338
Geographical Setting: England and France
Time Period: alternating between the 1990s and a “present day” timeline

Plot Summary: 
The Family Upstairs focuses on three points of view: 

1. Libby, who finds out she inherits a mansion on Cheyne Walk in London and millions of pounds from her birth parents when she turns 25.
2. Lucy, who is homeless and lives with her two young children, Marco and Stella.
3. Henry, who narrates the 1990s time frame in the novel while he lives in the mansion Libby inherits. 

Through these three points of view, the reader gains a look into the Cheyne Walk mansion in the 1990s and finds out the history of the house, along with the stories of all the people who lived there together at that time. With three families living at Cheyne Walk together, things are bound to get interesting. A cult-like lifestyle exists inside the mansion, and twists and turns are numerous before the climax in which various members of the home are found alive, dead, or missing. (I want to avoid sharing any twists and keep this as spoiler free as possible, so this is where I’ll stop.)

Subject Headings: Mansions – Fiction
        Families – Fiction
        Cults – Fiction

Thriller Appeals: 
Pace: The novel reads “at a rapid pace, driven by the danger faced by the protagonist” while allowing comprehension of each of the three perspectives (Wyatt & Saricks, 2019, p. 13). 
Narrative: Within the story, “protagonists face frightening perils, physical and emotional” and the storyline is “intricately involved” (Wyatt & Saricks, 2019, p. 13). 
Strong Protagonist: Libby is a character who is able to “operate alone” for much of the novel as she faces quite a bit of turmoil (Wyatt & Saricks, 2019, p. 13). 

Three terms that best describe this book: Fast-paced, compulsive, engrossing

Three Relevant Non-Fiction Works

1. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Capote, T. (1994). In cold blood. Vintage.

This nonfiction work details the murder of several members of the same family, and it is also said to read like a thriller.

2. The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple by Jeff Guinn

Guinn, J. (2017). The road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and peoples temple. Simon & Schuster. 

Going along with the cult aspect of The Family Upstairs, this book actually details Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple cult from the 1960s and 1970s that met a tragic end.

3. Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs by Rachel Jeffs
Jeffs, R. (2017). Breaking free: How I escaped polygamy, the FLDS cult, and my father, Warren Jeffs. Harper.

This memoir by a cult survivor could be of interest due to the aspect of the teenagers in The Family Upstairs surviving their own plight.

Three Relevant Fiction Works (& a Sequel!)

1. The Family Plot: A Novel by Megan Collins
Collins, M. (2021). The family plot: A novel. Atria Books.

A similarly aged protagonist goes back to her family’s mansion to uncover secrets, much like in The Family Upstairs.

2. The House Across the Lake: A Novel by Riley Sager
Sager, R. (2022). The house across the lake: A novel. Dutton. 

This thriller is constructed with two different timelines, and large homes are an important setting. The writing also contains quite a few twists and turns that are finally revealed in the end.

3. The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
Ware, R. (2018). The death of Mrs. Westaway. Gallery/Scout Press. 

The book has a plot similar to The Family Upstairs, with a young female protagonist being the beneficiary of a will.

4. The Family Returns by Lisa Jewell
Jewell, L. (2022). The family returns. Atria Books.

The Family Returns is the sequel to The Family Upstairs and while I have yet to read it, it continues the saga set forth in the first book and may be of interest. 

References
Jewell, L. (2019). The family upstairs: A novel. Atria Books. 
Wyatt, N. & Saricks, J. G. (2019). The readers’ advisory guide to genre fiction (3rd edition). ALA Editions.