The Family Upstairs

Libby works for a fancy kitchen design company, having steadily worked her way up the ladder to the head of sales position. In thinking about the life she’s built so far, Libby speculates about the man she hopes to marry one day. She doesn’t have a boyfriend, but she hopes to meet someone and get married in five years, then have a baby in the next five years.

Shortly after visiting the mansion, Libby goes into work. She is the second person to arrive, after her coworker Dido. Libby tells Dido she went to meet with someone about a possible inheritance but leaves out most of the details. Dido teases Libby about coming into work and acting like a normal person, even though Libby is “basically a millionaire” (36). Libby reveals that the house has a dark history due to the deaths that occurred, then says she is still a little shocked and therefore will still continue to go into work until she decides what to do with the house.

After the rain stops, Lucy and Marco spend the night sleeping on the beach. The next morning, Lucy uses loose change to buy them breakfast. Afterward, they pick up Stella from Samia’s; Stella has eaten and is showered and wearing clean clothes. Samia offers to keep Stella for another night but Lucy says they found someplace to stay. Samia gives Lucy some money, which Lucy uses to buy lunch.

Lucy and the children pass by a beach club and she remembers eating at the club’s restaurant with Marco’s dad. Lucy waits outside the restaurant for the hostess at the entrance to leave. When she leaves her station, Lucy whispers to the children to run inside the club toward the showers in back. The showers are only allowed for club patrons, but Lucy, Marco, and the dog sneak in while Stella waits outside. Lucy and Marco take their first showers in eight days. Afterward, Lucy and the children put on clean clothes and Lucy puts on makeup. Once everyone looks and smells nice, they set off to go see Marco’s dad. 

The novel jumps back to Chelsea in 1988, shortly after the music video shoot. Birdie returns to the mansion with suitcases and accompanied by her boyfriend, Justin, and her cat, Suki. Birdie explains that she and Justin were kicked out by their landlord and need a place to stay for a few days. Henry the elder and Martina allow them to stay, despite Henry the younger’s protests. Henry and Lucy show Birdie and Justin up a back staircase to a small room at the top of the house, which they call “the yellow room.” Birdie observes that they are being taken up the servants’ entrance, and Lucy cheerfully confirms this. Henry notes that Lucy “was too young to understand that not everyone thought sleeping in secret rooms at the top of secret staircases was an adventure, that some people might think they deserve proper big bedrooms and would be offended” (44).

Back downstairs, Henry complains to his parents and asks how long Birdie and Justin will be staying. Birdie appears in the doorway, holding Suki, and assures Henry it’s only until she and Justin find their own place. Birdie offers to let Lucy hold Suki, but as she passes the cat over, Suki jumps from her arms and leaves a scratch on Lucy’s arm. Henry believes Birdie wasn’t careful enough with the cat. As Henry’s parents tend to the cut, Henry gives Birdy an angry look and observes, “I could tell she hated me, even then. It was obvious. And it was very much mutual” (45).

Henry and Lucy are sent to bed. The next morning, Henry goes to school. He is in his last year of primary school, just 10 weeks away from the end of the school year. Henry looks forward to the long summer and the new, bigger school he is planning to attend the following fall. However, the narrating Henry remembers, “I had no idea, none whatsoever, how different the landscape of my life would look by the end of that summer” (47). 

Libby sits at home. On her laptop, she googles Martina and Henry Lamb and comes across an article titled “The Mysterious Case of Serenity Lamb and the Rabbit’s Foot” (48). Libby thinks about how she is both Serenity Lamb—the name she was given as a baby—and Libby Jones, the name she grew up with. Libby doesn’t remember being Serenity or even the moment she was adopted. She continues to read the online article.