The Family Remains

The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell is the sequel to Jewell’s New York Times bestselling thriller The Family Upstairs (2019). Through a variety of character narrators and timelines, Jewell follows the lives of the Lamb children 25 years after their escape from a dark and twisted childhood home. The mystery novel follows the investigation of Detective Samuel Owusu, who digs into the past when Birdie Dunlop-Evers’s remains are discovered and she is linked to the house on Cheyne Walk.

The Family Remains was published in 2022 and explores themes such as Trauma and Moral Responsibility, The Strength of Family Bonds, and Secrets and Lies.

This guide refers to the 2022 Atria paperback edition.

Content Warning: The source material contains depictions of sexual assault and mentions of suicide.

Plot Summary

In the summer of 2016, Rachel Gold, a 30-something jewelry designer in London, is lonely and looking for a casual fling when she meets Michael Rimmer. Michael is charming and wealthy, and Rachel quickly falls in love with him despite a few red flags. They marry after only a few months of dating. When conflict occurs on their honeymoon, Michael becomes distant, controlling, and violent. A few months into their marriage, Michael rapes Rachel and she immediately leaves him. Rachel wants a divorce, but decides to wait two years to avoid legal complications. They separate and she keeps her distance from Michael. In the meantime, Rachel’s jewelry-design business starts to succeed. Rachel focuses on her professional life, but can’t shake the loneliness of knowing she was raped by her husband. In 2018, Rachel tracks down Michael’s ex-wife, Lucy Lamb, in France. Lucy is poor, has two children, and earns money by playing violin on the street. Although Rachel doesn’t reveal to Lucy her connection with Michael, she talks to her and learns that Lucy also suffered abuse in her relationship with Michael.

A few months later, Rachel discovers that someone is blackmailing her father with compromising photos and videos of her. She immediately suspects Michael and goes to Antibes to confront him. After an initial conversation at Michael’s house, Rachel makes plans to return and threaten him. However, when she comes back to the house, Rachel discovers Lucy cleaning up Michael’s dead body and realizes that Lucy killed Michael. Rachel does what she can to protect Lucy when the police ask questions about her over the course of the next few months.

When human remains are found in 2019 in the River Thames, Detective Samuel Owusu opens a murder investigation. Forensic evidence identifies the remains as belonging to Birdie Dunlop-Evers. The bones appear to have been stored in one location for 25 years before being moved to the river. As Samuel digs into the past, he links Birdie with a large house on Cheyne Walk, the last location she is known to have lived. Upon visiting the house, which has been boarded up for 25 years, Samuel finds evidence that confirms Birdie’s remains were buried on the house roof, and then moved sometime within the past year. Samuel turns his investigation toward people connected with the house, starting with Libby Jones, whom he finds through an article written by reporter Miller Roe. The article explains that the owners of the house on Cheyne Walk, Mr. and Mrs. Lamb, were discovered dead in the house 25 years ago, along with a man identified only as DT. Their deaths were ruled the result of a suicide pact. Libby was a 10-month-old baby at the time and was found in the house along with the bodies. When Samuel questions Libby, he can tell she’s lying to protect someone. He gains access to her bank accounts and learns that Libby transferred large sums from the sale of the Cheyne Walk house to the Lamb siblings, Lucy and Henry, and that Libby is Lucy’s daughter.

Samuel next finds Justin Redding, Birdie’s boyfriend from 25 years ago. Samuel learns about the horrible treatment of the children in the Cheyne Walk house, Birdie’s evil, twisted nature, and her obsession with David Thomsen, a con artist who posed as a healer. Justin expresses guilt for failing to help the Lamb and Thomsen children, who were abused by Birdie and David.

Samuel tracks down Lucy and Henry Lamb to question them about Birdie’s death. Although they both live in England, they are currently in Chicago. Henry has been trying to find Phin Thomsen, David Thomsen’s son, with whom Henry grew up in the Cheyne Walk house. Henry has been obsessed with Phin since childhood and has spent the last 25 years impersonating Phin. Henry feels he must reconnect with Phin to find personal fulfillment. Lucy is in Chicago trying to find her brother, Henry. She worries what Henry may do to Phin if he finds him, as Henry was cruel to Phin at times when they were children. A series of clues leads Henry to Kris Doll, an ex-boyfriend of Phin’s, who indirectly leads Henry to Phin’s Airbnb. Henry plans to approach Phin with caution, unsure how Phin will react because of the way Henry treated Phin when they were young. However, one night, Henry confronts Phin. The two men have an honest and healing conversation from which Henry emerges with a new view of himself. He no longer feels the need to impersonate Phin, and decides to embrace his identity as Henry Lamb.

Samuel locates Lucy in Chicago and interviews her via video call. Lucy confirms Birdie’s cruelty, and asserts that Birdie groomed Lucy to have sex with David Thomsen. Lucy says honestly that she doesn’t know for sure how Birdie died, but she acknowledges internally that Henry was involved in Birdie’s death. She also knows, but doesn’t tell Samuel, that Henry moved Birdie’s remains. When Samuel interviews Henry, Henry doesn’t admit to anything. A few days later, Samuel learns that Justin died by suicide, leaving a note taking the blame for Birdie’s death. The note claims that Henry helped Justin carry Birdie’s remains to the roof and was likely trying to cover for him years later by moving the remains. Henry confirms this as the truth to Samuel, but they both know Henry is lying.

In 2019, the police rule that Michael’s death was the result of organized crime, clearing Rachel and Lucy. Rachel invites Lucy to her home and shares this good news. Lucy is relieved to hear she is no longer a suspect; she has been riddled with anxiety that the police would discover she killed Michael, especially once Detective Samuel Owusu started looking into Lucy’s past. However, with Justin taking the blame for Birdie’s death and the closing of Michael’s murder case, Lucy and Henry can finally move on with their lives. Lucy moves into her very first home with her children. Phin comes to visit to connect with their daughter, Libby. Henry, after embracing his identity as Henry Lamb for a few months, grows bored, and finds a new obsession: Kris Doll. The novel ends happily for Lucy and Rachel, but leaves room for sequels as Henry begins to impersonate Kris Doll.