The book wasn't terrible until the last 25% or so. I was going to give it a generous three stars because I was caught up in the drama of it all, but then Lisa Jewell said HOLD MY BEER and this story nosedived into one-star territory at the speed of light. In "The Family Upstairs," Jewell introduced us toLibby Jones, awoman who inherits a home worth millions of dollars in the fashionable Chelsea neighborhood ofLondon. Along the way, she discoversthe Lamb family. Throughmultiple narratives, Jewell thrilledreaders with a suspenseful tale in which each characteris as intriguing and inventive as Libby, so much sothat the endingleft readers and the author alike wanting to know more about the futureofthe Lamb family. A: The original motivation for bringing Rachel’s storyline into the sequel was to see how she felt about the death of her husband. I wasn’t sure if she would be devastated by it, or relieved. I had mentioned her so fleetingly in the first novel that I felt like she was just waiting to be brought fully to life and I wouldn’t know who she was or what her marriage had been like until I started writing her. The true horror of her marriage played out slowly as I wrote it and went to places I had not been expecting it to go. Coercive control is something I’ve written about a lot over my career, even in my very early ‘feelgood’ novels. I experienced it in my first marriage in my early twenties and it’s something that I think I will always revisit in my writing. Mrs. Rimmer. I am afraid I am calling you with some very distressing news. Please, tell me. Are you alone?”

Furthermore, I would categorise Henry, Lucy, and Marco’s story as more family drama/secrets/tragedy, with Rachel’s being more domestic thrille Do you agree with Justin that Henry is “Poor Henry” and that the Lamb children were “all victims. Whatever happened inside that house, none of them deserves to be punished for it” (340)? Cite examples as to why you do or do not believe Justin’s assessment. During her police interview, Lucy tells Detective Owusu that she “should have killed [Birdie]. If I had killed her, I would have been proud” (367). Does this change your perception of Lucy as a character? Even though Lisa Jewell remains one of my favorite writers in this genre I have always maintained that The Family Upstairs is probably my least favorite among her books. Guess what? The Family Remains changed that and how!Q: We don’t hear from Libby as much in this novel as we did in THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS. Why did you decide to use her less in the narrative? Q: Why were Birdie and Michael’s murders the crimes you wanted to focus on for this follow-up novel? What about them made for good entry points into revisiting the Lamb family? 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 This reading group guide for The Family Remains includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Lisa Jewell. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book. Q: The Lamb family home plays a large role in the first novel, but it’s being sold off in this one and we barely spend any time in it. Why did you decide you wanted to set THE FAMILY REMAINS outside of the home, and what did it allow you to explore by not being as tied to one location?

In "The Family Remains," that is exactly what readersget – more. More storylines, more characters and more suspense. It’s official!!! You are AWESOME!! This book is on 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Thank you so much @atriabooks @atriathrillers for putting this in my hands!! Pub date is right around the corner!! Out August 9th!!! 🥳🥳

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Do you think Phin meeting Libby and potentially returning to the lives of the Lamb family will allow them all to heal? Do you see a brighter future for the Lamb family with the re-emergence of Phin?

The plot unfolds through multiple perspectives and timelines which flowed brilliantly. Each perspective added the perfect layer of tension, mystery and intrigue. I really enjoyed the police investigation sections and thought those new characters were a fantastic addition.A: Absolutely. I always pledged that I would never write another sequel after I wrote After the Party, the sequel to my first novel, Ralph’s Party. I hadn’t enjoyed the experience and didn’t like the resultant book and thus was very adamant at first when readers were asking for a sequel to The Family Upstairs that I would not do one. But as the weeks and months passed and the pleas kept coming, I started to wonder about Henry and Phin and what might be happening in Botswana and then I wondered about Michael Rimmer’s wife, Rachel and then I wondered what might happen if someone found Birdie’s remains and then I thought, you know what, let’s give the people what they want, but make it something that I will really have fun writing. So I did.