The Family Upstairs

Chapter 6 jumps to the Chelsea mansion in 1988. Henry remembers the first woman to arrive at the mansion, Birdie Dunlop-Evers, a fiddle player in a popular pop band. Birdie stands out to Henry because of her unfashionable and oversized clothing. Henry’s mother, Martina, is excited to see Birdie because she is a famous musician. Martina explains that Birdie’s band wants to use the house to film a music video. Henry’s father allows the music video to happen, because, as Henry speculates, “he did like fuss and attention and he did like his house, and anyone who liked his house was always going to go down well with him” (33).

The music video shoot lasts for two days. Henry observes that the band “were all dressed alike in brownish clothes that looked like they might smell but didn’t because a lady with a clothes rail had brought them along in clear plastic bags” (33). The music video is good, and the song becomes popular. However, weeks pass, and Birdie is still staying at the mansion. 

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.