The Family Remains

A Novel

By: Lisa Jewell

Narrated by: Dominic Thorburn, Bea Holland, Hugh Quarshie, Josh Dylan, Thomas Judd, Eleanor Tomlinson

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Other authors are at a ten out of ten, for me, and Lisa is a solid hundred.” —Gillian McAllister, The Sunday Times (London) bestselling author of Wrong Place Wrong Time

The #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell weaves a “simply masterful” (Samantha Downing, internationally bestselling author) thriller about twisted marriages, fractured families, and deadly obsessions in this stand-alone sequel to The Family Upstairs.

Early one morning on the shore of the Thames, DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the scene of a gruesome discovery. When Owusu sends the evidence for examination, he learns the bones are connected to a cold case that left three people dead on the kitchen floor in a Chelsea mansion thirty years ago.

Rachel Rimmer has also received a shock—her husband, Michael, has been found dead in the cellar of his house in France. All signs point to an intruder, and the French police need her to come urgently to answer questions about Michael and his past that she very much doesn’t want to answer.

After fleeing London thirty years ago in the wake of a horrific tragedy, Lucy Lamb is finally coming home. While she settles in with her children and is just about to purchase their first house, her brother takes off to find the boy from their shared past whose memory haunts their present.

As they all race to discover answers to these convoluted mysteries, they will come to find that they’re connected in ways they could have never imagined.

In this masterful standalone sequel to her haunting New York Times bestseller The Family Upstairs, “Lisa Jewell is a superb writer at the top of her game” (Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author) with another jaw-dropping, intricate, and affecting novel about the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love and uncover the truth.

Critic reviews

"Bea Holland, Dominic Thorburn, Hugh Quarshie, Eleanor Tomlinson, Josh Dylan, and Thomas Judd create timeless characters as they narrate this intricate story about childhood trauma and its repercussions. The discovery of a decades-old body forces the characters to unearth secrets while desperately protecting family members from them. Portraying siblings, Holland and Thorburn transition seamlessly between British and American accents. Quarshie injects a detective with credible practicality and skepticism. Dylan infuses his tween character with wisdom and clarity. Tomlinson embodies her character with emotion that ranges from the giddiness of new love to the terror and rage of betrayal. Judd takes us from mystery to resolution with his character. Working well together, these narrators will make listeners thankful they have merely average lives."

The Family Remains

Agreeing with the other Reviewers stating that if you haven’t read/listened to The Family Upstairs, this book may seem all over the place and hard to keep up with so many characters. I recommend listening to TFU first.

Overall, another great LJ book…

Some parts seemed pretty far fetched/silly, (the Detective deducing EVERYTHING like a magical wizard, the fact that you can’t just get a damn divorce (?), the *SUPER*, *AWESOMELY*, ridiculous American phrasing/accents, Marco-who is ELEVEN-but helps to find Henry like he is 42 year old grown man…oh and there’s a gun (GASP!).

All that being said, I still really enjoyed the book and all the narrators. I love when you feel like you know each character and her books always do that for me.

Good read

Author did a great job of continuing the story of The Family Upstairs while weaving in new characters. There are some suspenful moments that keep you going as you want o know what happens. Great character development. I really enjoyed it.

Another great book!

Lisa has done it again! Such an amazing storyteller, her characters are well thought out and it’s expertly told to keep you guessing. I will always read anything she writes!

One of her best!!

I have listened to or read every single one of Lisa‘s books and this may be my favorite, if not certainly top three. The narration and story kept me hooked the whole way through. I should say however that I may not have felt the same had I not already readT The family upstairs. Even though this is a standalone book I think you really do need to read that book 1st to fully understand the backstory and the characters. Loved this one.

Thoroughly enjoyed this sequel

Lisa Jewell always draws me in. I enjoyed this sequel thoroughly. Jewell is effective at making her characters familiar enough to identify with the reader. Their reactions to sometimes implausible events are reasonable and realistic with just enough twists and surprises to hold interest. She creates an atmosphere that waivers between intimate and tense.