The Family Remains

I like a cleverly written book. I loved this because it was a sequel to a book that I didn’t think needed one, and I was interested to see how the author handled it. Superbly, of course.

I adored Lisa Jewell’s writing and the twists and turns she pulled off in her plot were wonderful. I enjoyed the follow-on storyline, which dovetailed perfectly with the original.

This is a sequel to Lisa Jewell’s previous novel, The Family Upstairs, but can be read as a standalone. In the earlier book, a creepy stranger worms his way into the home and lives of a wealthy Chelsea family. His children and theirs are systematically isolated from the world and brought up under an abusive cult-like regime. All the adults die in the end, and a suicide pact is suspected.

The sequel, The Family Remains, takes place some twenty years later when a bag of bones washes up on the shores of the River Thames and is linked to… show more.