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The Family Upstairs Audiobook by Lisa Jewell— narrated by Tamaryn Payne, Bea Holland, and Dominic Thorburn
Libby Jones turns twenty-five and inherits a derelict Chelsea mansion, along with the story of the three bodies found on its kitchen floor when she was the baby left alive upstairs. Lisa Jewell braids three narrators across two decades into a domestic noir about a family losing its own house to a houseguest, one reasonable concession at a time.
Why the audiobook wins
Three narrators, three readers, two decades. Libby Jones in the present, Lucy Lamb scrambling across the south of France, and Henry Lamb telling what happened at 16 Cheyne Walk from the inside. The cast recording solves the book's one genuine difficulty. On the page, the cross-cutting between two families and seven children takes a hundred pages to settle; in audio a change of voice does that work in a second.
Henry is the reason to listen. He narrates in first person, addressing someone in particular, and a reader who catches the arch, wounded tone of that address turns the whole novel into a confession rather than a puzzle. The house does the rest. Jewell's Chelsea mansion empties out room by room, and hearing children told there is nothing for dinner tonight lands harder than reading it.
Around nine and a half hours. Domestic noir with cult mechanics underneath, and it goes down in two or three sittings. One Audible credit covers it.
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Audiobook questions
- Who narrates the The Family Upstairs audiobook?
- Tamaryn Payne, Bea Holland, and Dominic Thorburn narrate the audiobook edition of The Family Upstairs.
- How long is the The Family Upstairs audiobook?
- The audiobook runs 9 hr 36 min.
- Is the The Family Upstairs audiobook worth listening to?
- We scored The Family Upstairs 4.1 out of 5. Three narrators, three readers, two decades. Libby Jones in the present, Lucy Lamb scrambling across the south of France, and Henry Lamb telling what happened at 16 Cheyne Walk from the inside. The cast recording solves the book's one genuine difficulty. On the page, the…
- Can I listen to The Family Upstairs free with an Audible trial?
- Eligible new Audible members can use a free-trial credit to listen in the Audible app. Eligibility and current offer terms are set by Audible.Listen to The Family Upstairs free with an Audible trial
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- How much does The Family Upstairs cost?
- On Amazon: Kindle $13.99, Paperback $10.21, Hardcover $19.99. Prices as of August 26, 2026 at 3:46 AM EDT and may change.
