As I enjoyed my last book club blog post I thought I'd continue with the next book I've just finished reading; The family upstairs, by Lisa Jewell. This book intrigued me by it's mysterious blurb and Amazon reviews. I will start off by saying I really did not expect the storyline to be what it was. Although the blurb did describe what was happening in the pages, it left out a LOT of the storyline which was a nice surprise. It added to the mystery and I could not put this book down! I would be walking to work thinking of theories on what could happen next and who could possibly be who. I gasped out loud more times than I can count.
If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend reading it and then coming back to this blog as of course, there will be spoilers ahead. If you have read this book, I wonder if our views are the same, or maybe the complete opposite.
Below are some bookclub questions from https://www.readinggroupguides.com which I'll be using to write about my thoughts on this gripping story.
1. THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS is told from three perspectives: Henry, Lucy and Libby’s. Was there one character in particular whose point of view you especially enjoyed? What is the effect of having Henry’s sections told in first person narration and Lucy and Libby’s told in third person narration? Why do you think Lisa Jewell structured her novel this way?
I did really like jumping from each perspective. At first, I thought Lucy was going to be more sinister from her first few pov's but in reality she's just a tough, bad ass gal. I enjoyed moving from current day to the 1980s and 90's in Henrys pov's. I felt like it allowed me to paint a picture and come up with theories based on what Henry was describing and what Libby and Miller were discovering. I'm not sure why Lisa decided to make Henry's pov in first person narration although it felt like he was telling - as I was writing that sentence I had an epiphany. Henry's was in first person, because it was as if he was talking to Libby and Miller. That night when they met and he invited them back to his apartment. Although he, for some reason, deleted the audio recording. I'm not sure if that is what Lisa meant to do, but it makes sense to me.
I must say, although not completing relating to the question, I found my opinion on Henry changing a lot throughout his chapters. At first, I felt sorry for him. A young child, not understanding to the full extent what was going on. I think it's safe to say Henry is gay. And not only was he having his childhood ripped apart in front of him, but he was discovering a lot about himself, he was also at the age where most go through puberty. I felt sorry for him. But as the book continued, I noticed a dark side of Henry, his behaviour is most definitely explained by the fucked up home situation. Although by the end of the book, I feel like Henry is a total psychopath, and has somehow blamed Phin for everything - I like how these opinions on Henry has come from his own pov.
2. Henry, rightfully, hates David. Yet, Henry and David share many similar tendencies and qualities. Compare and contrast the two men.
Henry hated David because he ruined his family. He slept with and impregnated his mother AND teen sister. He cheated on his wife (which Henry was vocal about disliking) - this also caused Justin to move away, and Henry enjoyed having Justin's company in the big, cult-y home. Although I agree with Henry, and hate David. By the end of the book I was seeing some comparisons. I think it was harder to see them during reading, because the majority of the time Henry was a little boy in the book, or pretending to be someone else (Phin). Just like David, when Henry didn't like something, he took matters into his own hands, and did not think about the consequences and how his actions may affect others, for example; when he made his mother miscarriage, when he told Phin about David kissing Birdie, when he through a tantrum and told on Phin for pushing him in the river (yes, Phin was a dick for this, but think, they weren't even meant to be outside of the house...), etc. This is exactly how David acted. He had sex with a married women and her teen daughter - was happy to announce the pregnancy in the presence of her husband / dad and children / siblings. He never thought about how the children would feel not going to school, he never asked people about their food preferences, he would lock children away and tie them up, hit them etc. Both Henry and David showed signs of emotional and physical abuse. However I still do have to feel a little sorry for Henry. He likely learned a lot of this behaviour because of growing up in that situation. BUT surely he could feel, deep down that it was wrong. What stopped him going to therapy? The main difference in them is I believe Henry did his 'bad' behaviour without realising it was bad. He let his emotions take over, whether it was love or embarrassment or pain. He thought by doing X, Y and Z he would be helping the others in the house. Whereas David is heartless and pure evil, we discover via Phin that this isn't the first time he's ruined a family, so this is clearly something David planned.
3. There are many intriguing characters who do not directly narrate the novel. Is there a character whose point of view you’d have liked to had included? What do you think Martina, for example, thought about David and Birdie’s choices?
We really can't tell what was going through Martina's mind during the few years they lived as a cult, but as it was her idea to let them move in I believe she thought it was a good way of life, at the start. It would've been very interesting to hear the story from her side and how she either was completely brainwashed, or if her mind became clearer on the crazy household rules and how they lived - even as a ghost, her spirit talking through the steps she took which lead to this crazy, murdering, cult like home. I also would've liked to see a few chapters narrated by Phin to understand his views on Henry and his father however because we only know about Phin via Henrys memories, it makes Phin a mysterious character which I'm sure leads to more theories. I think a good character to have a few chapters would've been David's wife / the mother of Phin and Clemency. After she left the house, she had potential to discuss her thoughts on the craziness that home became. I have to say I don't think Clemency would've been great to narrate and I'm glad Lisa didn't include that, it leaves her side of the story a bit of a mystery (not including when she spoke to Libby of course) and it makes sense, because she could barely discuss what happened to her to Libby due to the PTSD, so it makes sense why she wouldn't / couldn't narrate her story.
4. What is the effect of characters calling Libby “the baby” throughout the novel? How does this inform your opinion of Libby and her role in the story?
It makes sense looking back, as they were all just children when they fled and it's a normal term for kids to use when talking about younger children... "the baby"... "the child" etc. but I also believe it was to indicate her innocence in all of this. Although the children were still kids, they did have time to make things right. Yes, the couldn't just escape the house, and after the murders it would've been hard to go to the police for help, but what was stopping any of them from anonymously calling the police, just to say "hey, we are the kids and we're alive and ok". They weren't exactly innocent little children - apart from Clemency I'd say. so I think calling Libby 'the baby' amplifies how innocent she is and how she was bought into this cult family and lived 25 years without any knowledge of what happened with her real family.
5. Which of adult Henry, Lucy and Clemency’s behaviors can you directly trace back to their harrowing experiences as children? How do you see the influence of their abuse in their grown up lives?
Clemency's behaviour is very understandable. With her mother expressing to Libby and Miller that she has PTSD - which is to be expected if you'd gone through what she did. Along with Clemency chain smoking during difficult conversations about it.
Lucy showed a kind and caring personality along with a very hard and protective one. This can be seen by the way she looks after her children. She seemed distant and didn't like to ask for help from others, this may be down to trust issues but could also be from her previous, abusive relationships.
Henry, we all know how I feel about him. He's a full blown psychopath and yes I do believe this was due to his childhood and upbringing as a teenager but he kept that evilness with him as an adult and he is for sure hiding some secrets!!
6. The relationship between Henry and Phin is pivotal to the plot, but we aren’t told as much about the friendship between Lucy and Clemency. What details do we glean about their relationship from Henry and Lucy’s memories and Clemency’s account toward the end of the novel?
Lucy and Clemency seemed like really good friends at first when Clemency and her family first moved in, however we never really found out anything about their relationship. What did they do for fun? Did Henry see them playing in the garden? Listening to music? playing instruments? We really don't find out how they bonded - I guess it was due to them being stuck in the same house with little to do and crazy, abusive parents. The only thing we know about their relationship is it started to fall apart when it was announced that David - Clemency's dad - had sex with and got Lucy pregnant (Lucy, the same age as Clemency, a young teenager - but we now know it wasn't David who got her pregnant - but David still slept with her, so he is still a disgusting man). And who can blame Clemency when Lucy acted like it was the best thing to ever happen to her. It is VILE. Lucy was obviously groomed, but young teens don't understand that so it makes sense why their friendship faded after this. I believe we can see more about their friendship during the night of the murders, not only Clemency and Lucy but Clemency to the whole household. Although she was scared for her brother Phin, she did not hesitate to run away, barefoot, and not look back. She fled the scene with no one and that speaks volume.
7. Do you think Henry’s lies and violent acts were born out of his need to survive an unimaginable situation, or do you think there is, as Clemency states, “a streak of pure evil” (page 280) in him?
This is a tricky one because we really dont know much about Henry prior to the household being turned into a cult. On one hand, you see Henry grow from a boy to a teenager and he sees David acting similar, beating children up and being 'evil' to get his own way. Although it is normal for children to lash out and not understand how to control their emotions, especially if they've not been taught about large emotions and handling our feelings. To me, it's clear Henry had issues with controlling his emotional and hadn't been given any guidance in life when it comes to feelings. So a mix of those two makes sense, and unfortunately wouldn't be Henry's fault - HOWEVER there's many a times in the book where Henry discusses Davids wrongful behaviour, and describes it as bad, horrid etc- so he knows it's wrong to act that way? Yet he still acted that way. And I still want to know what he was feeling when he had Libby and Miller stay round. Why did he pretend to be Phin, why did he lock them in the room, why did he delete the recording when he was find with it being recorded? So many unanswered questions about Henry and his behaviour.
8. Lucy and Clemency experienced unspeakable abuse as children, but, miraculously, they managed to break the cycle and become good mothers to their children. What are their relationships like with their children? What makes them good moms?
Both girls went very different ways with their lives when they escaped the London home but I think it's their experiences from their childhood which makes them such good mothers. They want to make sure their children do not go through anything similar to what they suffered. Lucy seemed a lot more 'tough' than Clemency, with Clemency going to her mother and residing there whereas Lucy wants to fend for herself, she doesn't want or like to ask for help which I can see as a result of trauma from her childhood but also from her ex partners - one being abusing and one running away without a trace; it makes sense she's very protective and tough.
9. Libby finds many disconcerting traces of the house’s previous inhabitants when she tours it. Which artifacts did you find the eeriest? Which intrigued you and made you want to find out what had happened inside the house?
The amount of "Phin was here" Etc writing on the walls and in the left over furniture was weird, and it only got weirder to find out it was actually Henry. But for me, the cot and the rabbits foot was the weirdest. Not really the rabbit foot now we know why it was placed there. But everything in the house was taken, it was all removed before the murders or was taken by the police as evidence. SURELY the cot that a baby was in, in a house where three murders took place (well, yes they thought it was suicide but still), where it looked like a cult had lived there, where multiple kids were seen living but never found, where the baby in said cot was being fed and looked after, DAYS after the murders happened - was not taken into evidence. WHY? That is what I find strange. An item which surely would have fingerprints and DNA on was not taken into evidence is just, very odd to me...
Thank you for reading! I'd love to hear your opinions. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, if you have any suggestions for my next read, send me a message on instagram! <3 happy reading xo
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