The Family Plot

"At twenty-six, Dahlia Lighthouse has a lot to learn when it comes to the real world. Raised in a secluded island mansion deep in the woods and kept isolated by her true crime-obsessed parents, she spent the last several years living on her own, but unable to move beyond her past-especially the disappearance of her twin brother Andy when they were sixteen. With her father's death, Dahlia returns to the house she has avoided for years. But the rest of the Lighthouse family arrives for the memorial, a gruesome discovery is made: buried in the reserved plot is another body-Andy's, his skill split open with an ax. Each member of the family handles the revelation in unusual ways. Her brother Charlie pours his energy into creating a family memorial museum, highlighting their research into the lives of famous murder victims; her sister Tate forges ahead with her popular dioramas portraying crime scenes; and their mother affects a cheerfully domestic facade, becoming unrecognizable as the woman who performed murder reenactments for her children. As Dahlia grapples with her own grief and horror, she realizes that her eccentric family, and the mansion itself, may hold the answers to what happened to her twin"--

The Family Plot, by Linda McCauley Freeman, portrays one American girlhood against the background of a complex family history,

A “haunting debut: suspenseful, atmospheric, and completely riveting” (Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls) about a young woman who returns home to care for her ailing mother and begins to dig deeper into her sister’s unsolved murder. Sixteen years ago, Sylvie’s sister, Persephone, never came home. Out late with the boyfriend she was forbidden to see, Persephone was missing for three days before her body was found—and years later, her murder is still unsolved. In the present day, Sylvie returns home to care for her estranged mother, Annie, as she undergoes treatment for cancer. Prone to unexplained “Dark Days” even before Persephone’s death, Annie’s once-close bond with Sylvie dissolved in the weeks after their loss, making for an uncomfortable reunion all these years later. Adding to the discomfort, Persephone’s former boyfriend is now a nurse at the cancer center where Annie is being treated. Sylvie has always believed Ben was responsible for the murder—but she carries her own guilt about that night, guilt that traps her in the past while the world goes on around her. As she navigates the complicated relationship with her mother, Sylvie begins to uncover the secrets that fill their house—and what really happened the night Persephone died. The Winter Sister is a “bewitching” (Kirkus Reviews) portrayal of the complex bond between sisters, between mothers and daughters alike, and “will captivate you from suspenseful start to surprising finish” (Kathleen Barber, author of Are You Sleeping).

In the late 1970s Ondaatje returned to his native island of Sri Lanka. As he records his journey through the drug-like heat and intoxicating fragrances of that "pendant off the ear of India, " Ondaatje simultaneously retraces the baroque mythology of his Dutch-Ceylonese family. An inspired travel narrative and family memoir by an exceptional writer.

The acclaimed debut novel by the author of Little Fires Everywhere and Our Missing Hearts “A taut tale of ever deepening and quickening suspense.” —O, the Oprah Magazine “Explosive . . . Both a propulsive mystery and a profound examination of a mixed-race family.” —Entertainment Weekly “Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.” So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos. A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.

"When Fern Douglas sees the news about Astrid Sullivan, a thirty-four-year-old missing woman from Maine, she is positive that she knows her. Fern's husband is sure it's because of Astrid's famous kidnapping - and equally famous return - twenty years ago, but Fern has no memory of that, even though it happened an hour outside her New Hampshire hometown, where she's returning for the week to help her father pack for a move. And when Astrid appears in Fern's recurring nightmare, one in which a girl reaches out to her, pleading, Fern fears that it's not a dream at all, but a memory. Back home in New Hampshire, Fern purchases a copy of Astrid's recently published memoir Behind the Red Door- which may have provoked her original kidnapper to abduct her again- and as Fern reads through its chapters, visits the people and places within it, she discovers more evidence that she has an unsettling connection to the missing woman. As her search becomes increasingly desperate, she hopes to remember her past so she can save Astrid in the present--before it's too late"--

** NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! ** The Tonight Show Summer Reads Winner ** A New York Times Notable Book of 2021 ** "Insanely readable." —Stephen King Hailed as "breathtakingly suspenseful," Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot is a propulsive read about a story too good not to steal, and the writer who steals it. Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written—let alone published—anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the plot. Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker’s first novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that—a story that absolutely needs to be told. In a few short years, all of Evan Parker’s predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his glorious new life, an e-mail arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says. As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student, and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him. Who was Evan Parker, and how did he get the idea for his “sure thing” of a novel? What is the real story behind the plot, and who stole it from whom?

'Really good, gripping. I couldn't bear for it to finish... I don't want to move onto the next book too soon as it feels like a betrayal.' OLIVIA COLMAN 'I swear I didn't breathe the whole time I was reading it. Gripping, pacy, brilliantly twisty.' CLARE MACKINTOSH 'A twisty and engrossing story of betrayal and redemption.' IAN RANKIN ____________________ FROM THE #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF INVISIBLE GIRL In a large house in London's fashionable Chelsea, a baby is awake in her cot. Well-fed and cared for, she is happily waiting for someone to pick her up. In the kitchen lie three decomposing corpses. Close to them is a hastily scrawled note. They've been dead for several days. Who has been looking after the baby? And where did they go? Two entangled families. A house with the darkest of secrets. A compulsive thriller from Lisa Jewell. ____________________ 'Rich, dark and intricately twisted, this enthralling whodunnit mixes family saga with domestic noir to brilliantly chilling effect.' RUTH WARE 'You don't read a Lisa Jewell book, you fall into it. It takes huge talent to establish a whole world in the turn of two pages.' ERIN KELLY 'Creepy, intricate and utterly immersive- an excellent holiday read.' GUARDIAN 'I had an unrelentingly pleasurable and thrilling for-God's-sake-tell-me-what-happened sensation in my stomach for the entire read ... Stupendous!' RUTH JONES 'Absolutely brilliant. Great characterisation, a fascinating and dark set up and a great conclusion. She's always great but this is next level stuff.' SARAH PINBOROUGH 'Few writers of psychological suspense devise such swift, slippery plots; fewer still people their stories with characters so human and complex. Lisa's Jewell's The Family Upstairs glitters like a blade and cuts even deeper.' AJ FINN 'Whenever I pick up a Lisa Jewell novel I know I'm in for a compelling, immersive and unputdownable read and The Family Upstairs is one of her very best' CL TAYLOR 'I had hoped to save The Family Upstairs for my holiday, but failed miserably ... I was hooked from the first page. I think it's her best yet and hands down my favourite book so far this year.' ALICE FEENEY 'Utterly compelling. Deliciously dark and twisty with characters who live on in your head. Lisa Jewell just keeps getting better and better.' JANE CORRY 'It's absolutely bloody brilliant and I can't tell you much I wish I'd written it.' TAMMY COHEN 'It's SO GOOD!' INDIA KNIGHT 'I loved The Family Upstairs!' SARAH JESSICA PARKER ____________________ Readers are obsessed with The Family Upstairs- 'I read so many books in the crime/mystery genre that it becomes harder to find a book that stands out. This one succeeded!! Hooked from page one' 'I totally adored this book. All of Lisa Jewell's books are fabulous, but something about this one is extra special.' 'Absolutely absorbing ... thoroughly enjoyed it' 'Kept me captivated from the very beginning ... Definitely worth reading - as long you like reading into the night!' 'What a book. Clever would be an understatement. And those last pages left me with chills. The concept had me intrigued and the execution had me captivated. I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN!' #1 Bestseller in the UK, Sunday Times, August 2019