The House We Grew Up In

Lisa Jewell’s early career was in fashion, but she later started writing. She is a prolific writer who has written 19 novels in 25 years, and her books have sold a combined 10 million copies worldwide. Her work straddles the gap between commercial bestsellers and literary fiction, and she writes in several popular genres, including romantic comedies (Thirty-nothing, Vince & Joy, 31 Dream Street), thrillers (Watching You, I Found You, The Family Upstairs and its sequel, The Family Remains), and family dramas (The House We Grew Up In, The Truth About Melody Browne).

Although written in different genres, Jewell’s books employ similar literary devices and motifs. They are often intricately plotted, focusing on multigenerational families and jumping through time. Her characters have psychological depth, and their idiosyncrasies affect the narrative arc. Sometimes, the characters have out-of-body experiences, allowing them to view themselves objectively, or a moment in time is frozen as they make an important realization. Settings are important, and a house full of secrets is often used as a symbolic device. Along with the Bird House in The House We Grew Up In, her pivotal settings include a manor perched on a seaside cliff in I Found You, a Chelsea house in The Family Upstairs, and an abandoned mansion in The Night She Disappeared.