The Family Upstairs

Libby, a 25-year-old woman, is living in a modest, one-bedroom apartment in St. Albans, a city in England. One morning, she wakes up to find a letter on her front steps. Libby calls Dénia, her adoptive mother, and asks her to wait on the phone while she opens the letter. The letter states that Libby has inherited a mansion in Chelsea from Henry and Martina Lamb, whom she believes to be her deceased biological parents.

Lucy is a homeless woman living in Nice, France, with her two young children, Marco and Stella, and their dog. As Lucy and her children eat dinner at an outdoor restaurant, Lucy can tell a storm is coming. She pays for the meal with a credit card, with “the knowledge that now there is no money in that account, that there is no money anywhere” (10).

After their meal, Lucy tries to think of some place where they can spend the night. She takes her children to the home of Stella’s paternal grandmother, Samia. When they arrive, Samia explains that only Stella can stay with her, and only for one night. Stella is reluctant to stay at her grandmother’s without Lucy, but Lucy insists.

Lucy, Marco, and the dog take shelter beneath a flyover as a rainstorm blows in. Lucy promises Marco she’ll get her fiddle back from the repair shop the next day so she can begin busking again. Marco wonders how Lucy will pay for the fiddle repairs, but Lucy insists everything will work out. Lucy turns on her cell phone and receives a calendar notification stating: “The baby is 25” (13).

Chapter 3 jumps to Chelsea, London, in the late 1980s. Henry narrates the chapter and explains that he grew up in a Chelsea mansion with his father—also named Henry Lamb—his mother, and his sister. The family inherited its fortune from Henry’s grandfather, who made his money from slot machines. Henry’s mother, Martina, was half German, half Turkish, enjoyed shopping, and often had her picture taken for the newspaper. She owned a company for about a year called Martina Lamb Associates, “introducing important fashion people to each other. Or at least that was my impression” (16). Henry and his sister attended an expensive private school. Henry explains that “by the time I was old enough to be humiliated by the attire” (16), meaning the school uniforms, his family had lost its fortune. Henry remembers a night when a woman named Birdie and her cat arrived at the mansion.

Libby arrives in Chelsea to receive the home she inherited. She meets with the solicitor of the estate, Mr. Royle, and he tells Libby the mansion was built in 1799. Mr. Royle also gives Libby a newspaper clipping that explains how Henry and Martina Lamb and a third adult man were found dead, presumed by drinking poison as part of a suicide pact. The Lambs’s children, ages 14 and 16 at the time, went missing. During the years leading up to the tragedy, various other adults and children had been living at the house. When Libby reads that a baby was also found at the house, she asks Mr. Royle if she is that baby, and he says yes. Libby then signs some paperwork and receives the keys to the house.

Libby and Mr. Royle walk through a busy neighborhood toward the house. Libby observes, “The house stands well back from the pavement behind ornate metal railings and an overgrown parterre garden” (22). Libby and Mr. Royle enter the house and walk through the rooms; he makes note of hidden doors and staircases. Libby notices that there is no furniture, and Mr. Royle explains that the owners had to sell everything and sleep on mattresses once they lost their fortune. Upstairs, the pair enters a small room containing the crib where Libby was found. Mr. Royle pulls a cardboard box from a shelf, explaining that it was left behind with the baby and was therefore believed to be meant for her. Inside, Libby finds a rabbit foot. Mr. Royle tells Libby that her name was originally Serenity. Overwhelmed, Libby suggests they go outside to the garden for some fresh air. 

The narrative returns to Lucy and her son. Marco notices the cryptic alert on Lucy’s phone about a baby being 25. He asks what it means, and Lucy says she can’t tell him. Marco becomes upset, insisting he wants to know more about his mother’s life. Lucy says she will tell Marco more if they ever get to London; she hopes to take Marco and Stella to London once she raises enough money. Marco suggests Lucy call his dad, and she says they don’t know where his dad is. Marco confesses that his dad arrived to walk Marco home from school one day and is living in the area with his wife. Lucy becomes upset at Marco for withholding this information from her. Hoping for a place to stay and for money to fix her fiddle, she promises they will go see Marco’s father tomorrow but makes Marco swear not to tell anyone about their plans to go to London.