She’d hoped the party might spill out into the garden.įrom downstairs she can hear the sounds of the caterers bringing in the food on metal platters from the van parked outside. She stands up briefly to close the window behind the dressing table there’s a sharp wind coming in off the Thames, a shame after an unseasonably warm March day. He wrinkles his brow at the suggestion, says, well, well, well, you’re still into all that are you? As if she were suggesting a trip to a funfair or a night at a punk concert. And Henry Sr has no interest in having sex with her whatsoever. Sometimes she thinks maybe another baby would be the way forward, would pump her briefly full of the elixir of femininity, fecundity, the glow, the excitement, the newness of a fresh life.īut that would mean Henry Sr having any interest in having sex with her. This time next year Henry will have finished primary school. But now those children are not little anymore. Having children when she was young made her feel if anything, even younger. Youth has been everything to her, always. Florian, the man she was engaged to before she met Henry, was nearly fifteen years older than her. Henry, her husband, is ten years older than her. She is thirty tonight is her birthday party. She puts a fingertip to her chin and angles her head backwards. Her hair is down, black tips sharp against her jawline. Most of the household detested David.Martina sits at her dressing table and attaches her earrings clip-on diamante stars from Monty Don that cost almost as much as real diamonds. How would you describe Martina and Henry (husband)? What was the root cause of their tragic demise? Of the three points of view this story was told from, which one did you enjoy the most: Libby, Lucy or Henry?ĭid the story work for you being told from multiple POV, or did you keep flicking back to see what last happened to each character? Did you connect with each of them? Is the blurb important to you when you're choosing a new book? Do you like a lot of information or a little? Who has been looking after the baby? Where did they go?

Close to them is a hastily scrawled note. In the Kitchen lie three decomposing corpses. Well-fed and cared for, she is happily waiting for someone to pick her up. In a large house in London’s fashionable Chelsea, a baby is awake in her cot. This is the blurb for The Family Upstairs: Kicking off with a general question - what did you like best about this book? Welcome to my questions on The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

The family upstairs book