The Family Upstairs

Henry is the son of Martina Lamb and Henry Lamb. The chapters in this novel alternate between present day and Henry’s recollection of the events of the Chelsea house in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which are told from Henry’s point of view. As a child, Henry’s family was wealthy and lived comfortably in their mansion in Chelsea. However, when Birdie and Justin, and later the Thomsens arrive, the Lamb family loses their fortune and most of their belongings and end up trapped inside the house with David controlling their lives. Henry is immediately apprehensive of Birdie and David, and his hatred toward them only grows the longer they are involved in his family’s life.

As the novel progresses, more and more details reveal that Henry may be dangerous and untrustworthy. When Libby and Miller Roe meet Clemency Thomsen as an adult, she describes how Henry tried to kill Phin by pushing him in the river, and how Henry killed Birdie’s cat, stating that Henry “had a streak of pure evil” (280). Henry even describes himself by saying, “I was a strange boy. I can see that now. I’ve since met boys like me: slow to smile, intense, guarded, and watchful” (45). Henry develops an interest in Justin’s herb garden and grows herbs which he uses to attempt to end his mother’s pregnancy, worsen Phin’s health, and temporarily make his parents, Birdie, and David unconscious. At the end of the novel, it is still unclear whether Henry intentionally murdered his parents and David or whether it was an accident.

Henry also holds romantic feelings for Phin Thomsen, which verge on obsession. When Henry first meets Libby when they are both adults, he introduces himself as Phin, and Libby suspects Henry “has had cosmetic procedures to make him look like Phin” (334), though Henry denies this. When Miller Roe shares that he has tracked down Phin as a safari guide leader, and that he and Libby plan to travel to go visit Phin, Henry asks to come along, implying that his obsession for Phin has never faltered. 

At the beginning of the novel, Lucy is a 40-year-old homeless woman living in the Côte d’Azur with her children, Marco and Stella, and her dog, Fitz. Lucy plays the fiddle on the streets for money. During this time, Lucy reflects that she is “Nearly forty years old. Homeless. Single. Penniless. Not even who she says she is” (41). As the novel progresses, it is revealed that Lucy is the younger sister of the junior Henry, and the daughter of Henry Lamb and Martina Lamb. As a teenager, Lucy grew up in the Chelsea mansion, where David Thomsen brainwashed her into having sexual relations with him. As a teenager, Lucy also snuck into Phin’s room where she and Phin engaged in sexual relations twice, causing her to become pregnant with Serenity Lamb, later Libby Jones. Lucy eventually escaped the Chelsea mansion by bringing Phin to a doctor, who put Lucy and Phin in touch with a man who helped them escape to France. In France, Lucy eventually married Michael and gave birth to Marco, but left Michael because he was abusive. Later, she had Stella with another man.

Lucy is someone who always puts her loved ones first, even when it causes her to make difficult decisions. While trying to obtain fake passports, Lucy accidentally kills Michael in self-defense. Lucy makes the decision to hide Michael’s body instead of calling the authorities, knowing they will ask questions and may even take Marco and Stella away from her. When Libby and Lucy finally reconnect as adults, “Libby looks at Lucy, this woman surrounded by loving children whom she has brought all the way from France to England. She has even brought her dog. She is clearly not the sort of woman to leave behind people she loves” (312). Lucy assures Libby that she always meant to come back for her, even putting a reminder on her cell phone of Libby’s 25th birthday. Eventually, Lucy and Libby become close, and Libby considers Lucy, Marco, and Stella significant members of her family.

David Thomsen is the husband of Sally Thomsen, and the father of Phin and Clemency Thomsen. When the senior Henry Lamb’s health starts to deteriorate, Birdie suggests he invite David and his family to come live with them, claiming David is an expert at ulterior healing methods. Eventually, David will take control of the household, convincing Martina and Henry Lamb to give away their belongings, allow him to oversee their finances, and implementing strict household rules.

David is charismatic, which is how he is able to convince many people, especially Martina Lamb, to follow his rules. Henry, the son, says that “People could look and see just a man, but in the same glance, the answer to all their problems” (177). However, David can also be cruel, such as when he locks the children in their bedrooms as punishment. After David dies of poisoning, Henry remembers David as “The man who’d destroyed us, beaten us, denied us food and freedom, taken our passports, impregnated my mother and my sister, tried to take our house” (296). David uses a combination of charisma and cruel rule-enforcement to take hold of the Chelsea mansion.

Birdie arrives at the Chelsea house in 1988 as a fiddle player with a popular band. Henry describes her as “A woman with long thin hair down to her waist, men’s trousers tied around with a belt, a striped shirt beneath suspenders, a long gray overcoat, and green fingerless gloves” (31). Birdie convinces Martina Lamb to allow her band to film a music video at the house. A few weeks after the music video shoot, Birdie shows up again with her partner, Justin, and asks to stay with the Lambs. Birdie eventually convinces the Lambs to invite the Thomsen family as well, which is how the Lamb family over the next few years loses their fortune and control over their home. During his research of Birdie, Miller Roe discovers that the other members of her band did not get along with Birdie, explaining, “According to interviews from the time, she was quite controlling. Nobody liked her” (239). Birdie leaves the band after they fail to release another single. While living in the Chelsea mansion, Birdie becomes romantically involved with David and supports his control over the household. On the night of the children’s escape from the house, Henry kills Birdie with an antler from a taxidermy animal after the herbal remedy he gave her fails to keep her unconscious. Henry hides Birdie’s body on the rooftop, and, as an adult, returns to disassemble Birdie’s bones and drop them into the Thames river.

Phin, short for Phineas, is the son of David and Sally Thomsen and the brother of Clemency Thomsen. Henry describes Phin’s appearance as “a boy, my age, maybe older, blond, tall, dark feathered lashes that swept the edges of steel-cut cheekbones, hands in the pockets of smart blue shorts, a fringe flicked out of his eyes effortlessly and with more than a little attitude” (73). Phin initially warns Henry that his father, David, is “going to take everything you own and then break your life” (141). After Sally leaves the Chelsea mansion, Phin’s relationship with his father, David, becomes more hostile, and David retaliates by locking Phin in his bedroom for extended periods of time. Over time, Phin’s health deteriorates, due to malnutrition and herbs fed to him by Henry “to dim his lights so that I could shine a little brighter” (339). Phin also engages in sexual relations with Lucy, making him the biological father of Serenity Lamb (Libby). Phin and Lucy escape to France together, but Phin eventually leaves Lucy, and his whereabouts aren’t heard from again until Miller Roe tracks him down as a safari guide leader at the end of the novel.

Martina is the wife of the senior Henry Lamb and the mother of Henry and Lucy. Henry describes her as not only gorgeous but as a style icon. When Birdie and Justin, and later the Thomsen family arrive, Martina falls for David’s charisma and alternative ways of living, which is one of the reasons why he is able to take control of the Chelsea mansion. Martina explains, “It’s about how I feel about myself and how I’ve felt so sad for so long and how all of this […] doesn’t make me happy, it really doesn’t. And then David came along and he’s shown me another way to live, a less selfish way” (120). Martina eventually becomes sexually involved with David and becomes pregnant with his baby but loses the baby. Martina dies alongside David and Henry Lamb after drinking the poison concocted by her son.

Henry Lamb is the husband of Martina Lamb and the father of Henry (with whom he shares a name) and Lucy. In the early-mid 1980s, Henry Lamb and Martina Lamb are wealthy socialites, and their home is extravagantly decorated with items from Harrod’s. However, as Henry Lamb gets older, his health deteriorates. Henry Lamb suffers a stroke which enables him to do little more than sit in a chair all day. It is partly because of his poor health that David is able to take control of the Lamb family’s finances and of the household. Henry Lamb dies alongside David and Martina when Henry, the son, feeds them a poison meant to temporarily make them unconscious. 

In 1988, Justin arrives at the Chelsea mansion alongside Birdie as her partner. Justin was briefly a percussionist in Birdie’s band. Justin plants an herb garden in the mansion’s backyard and sells his herbal remedies to earn money. A few years later, Justin starts to teach Henry about gardening. After Birdie becomes romantically involved with David, Justin leaves the Chelsea mansion, leaving behind his books on gardening and a small rabbit’s foot for Henry.

Sally Thomsen is David Thomsen’s wife and the mother of Phin and Clemency. Eventually, unhappy with how David is running things and because of his infidelity, Sally leaves him. Sally takes Phin and Clemency out of the house from time to time, hoping to save up money to get her own apartment and remove her children from the house for good. Sally eventually moves to Cornwall. On the night of the children’s escape from the Chelsea mansion, Clemency makes her way to the train station and is able to travel to Cornwall and find Sally. Years later, Sally opens up a practice as a life therapist and coach and begins using her maiden name, Sally Radlett. When Libby and Miller Roe track Sally down at her practice, she refuses to talk to them, too traumatized by the events at the Chelsea mansion.

Clemency Thomsen is the daughter of David and Sally, and the sister of Phin. As a teenager, growing up in the Chelsea house, Clemency and Lucy were very close, but their relationship deteriorated after Clemency discovered David and Lucy had had sex. Clemency is eventually able to escape the Chelsea mansion, and makes her way to the train station and to Cornwall where she tracks down her mother, Sally. Years later, Clemency will grow up to own a house and have a daughter of her own. When Lucy finally returns to England, she and Clemency rekindle their friendship.