The Family Upstairs

 

I spent six weeks reading David Franzen's lengthy family saga Crossroads and was looking for something completely different. This psychological thriller by Lisa Jewell looked like it might fit the bill so I dove right in. 

On her 25th birthday Libby Jones is notified by a solicitor who informs her that she is the sole inheritor of a mansion in one of London's poshest areas and has become wealthy overnight. She'd been adopted as an infant but knows nothing about her birth parents. She decides to delve into her family history and finds that both parents had died in the house 25 years ago along with another man whose identity was unknown. The police found Libby in her crib having been well cared for. Neighbours said there were other children living in the house but by the time the police arrived they were nowhere to be found. The story is told from three points of view and we gradually learn what happened in that house over a period of five years and it is disturbing. There were some interesting twists in the story and good suspense that made the book hard to put down. I tore through it in two sittings. Every once in awhile I feel the urge to read a good thriller and I will definitely read more by this author.