The Family Upstairs

Back in 1988, Birdie and Justin have been living with the Lamb family for five months; the Thomsens for two weeks. Henry still assumes the Thomsens are only staying for a short while. He eavesdrops on his mother, Birdie, and Sally. Sally explains that they may go stay on a one-bedroom houseboat, and Martina insists they stay until they find a better living arrangement.

Henry observes that, for the past two weeks, Phin “refused even to look at me, let alone talk to me; Phin who acted as though I were not even there. And the more he acted as though I were not there, the more I felt like I might die of his refusing to see me” (91). But that day, when Phin and Henry run into each other, Phin says his first words to Henry: “You know we’re here to stay, don’t you?” (92).

Phin explains that they once went to a house in Brittany for a holiday and ended up staying for two years. The Thomsens used to have a house, but David sold it so they could travel. Phin hasn’t been to school since he was six; his mother homeschools him and his sister Clemency. Henry asks if Phin misses having friends, but Phin says no. During this conversation, Phin is holding a book, and Henry asks if it’s good. Phin states that all published books are enjoyable to someone; otherwise they wouldn’t have been published. He offers to lend the book to Henry when he is finished. 

Libby meets Miller Roe for breakfast at a café. Libby confirms that she is the baby, Serenity Lamb, and that she inherited the house. Miller Roe explains that he tried to get inside the house to look around several times, but he was never allowed inside. Libby says she plans to sell the house, but she wants to find out what happened there first. Miller Roe explains that the article took him two years of research to write, which, he says, “[d]estroyed my marriage and I still didn’t get the answers I was looking for. Nowhere near” (96).

Libby shows Miller Roe the keys to the house and explains that she wants to find her brother and sister. Miller Roe wonders if the brother and sister know that Libby inherited the house. The house was originally meant to go to Libby’s brother and then to Libby’s sister, but it went to Libby after neither sibling came forward to claim it.

Libby also wonders who the third man was who died along with her parents. Miller Roe reminds Libby of the initials on the suicide note: DT. After looking through missing-person cases, Miller Roe came across the name David Thomsen but was never able to confirm that it was him. David Thomsen’s extended family members described David, his wife, and children, as “‘loners’—there were rights and grudges, a huge falling-out over an inheritance of some sort. So nobody wondered where they were” (97). Miller Roe was unable to track down David and eventually had to give up. Libby and Miller Roe shake hands and agree to find out what happened to all the people at the Chelsea mansion.

After her breakfast with Miller Roe, Libby arrives at work late. Dido asks how her meeting went. Libby says that they are meeting at the house that night to look around and invites Dido to come along. 

Lucy wakes early while the children are still sleeping and goes to Michael’s house. Michael’s maid leads Lucy out onto the terrace. When Michael arrives, Lucy makes up a lie that she just got word of a friend in England who is dying of cancer. Lucy asks Michael if he still knows the people who made her old passport. Michael admits he doesn’t but can try to find someone. Lucy asks if Michael can help her get passports for herself, her two children, and the dog. Michael offers to let Lucy leave the dog with him, and Lucy “tries not to look too appalled at the thought of her precious dog living here with this monster” (102). Lucy insists that the children are too attached to the dog. Finally, Michael agrees to help Lucy get passports. Michael looks suggestively up at his master bedroom, and Lucy says, “Maybe next time” (103). Michael teases her and asks, “Are you incentivizing me? […] I like your style” (103). Michael asks for her number so he can get in touch about the passports; Lucy lies and says she doesn’t have a cell phone at the moment. Michael asks how she heard about her sick friend. Thinking quickly, she says she received a call at the hostel where she is staying. Lucy asks Michael for his phone number and says she will call him from a pay phone later that week. Before she leaves, Michael gives Lucy some money.

The novel jumps back to Chelsea in 1989. Several months have gone by, and Birdie, Justin, and the Thomsen family are still living at the mansion. Birdie leaves her band after they release an unsuccessful song, and she begins teaching fiddle lessons in the house. Justin starts selling herbal remedies using the herbs he grows in the garden. Sally homeschools all four children. David teaches alternative therapies at a church hall nearby.

Meanwhile, Henry notices that his father has become “so vulnerable, so broken” (106). One day, Henry sees his father heading out the front door and asks if he can come along. Henry’s father takes him to his whiskey and cigar club. Henry admits to his father that he feels confused about how their lives have changed. His father says he is not confused, but the narrating Henry recalls, “I couldn’t tell if he meant that he knew what was going on and was in control of it, or that he knew what was going on but could do nothing to stop it” (108). Henry’s father tells Henry to never marry a woman and explains that he and Martina want different things in life, and she won. Henry thinks to himself that he doesn’t plan on marrying a woman anyway, though he’s unsure of what the alternative would be. His father says that Martina has become especially attached to David, saying, “Apparently he makes her feel better about her pointless existence. Apparently he gives her life ‘meaning’” (109). The elder Henry then refuses to speak further on the subject.