The Family Upstairs

After the deaths at the Chelsea mansion, baby Serenity Lamb was found in her crib alongside a rabbit’s foot. The rabbit’s foot was then given to Serenity Lamb, now named Libby Jones, when she revisited the Chelsea house as an adult. Over the course of the novel, it is revealed that the rabbit’s foot was left behind by Justin when he fled the house. Henry remembers finding the rabbit’s foot in Justin’s room: “I thought at first it was a dead mouse, but upon inspection I found it to be a disembodied rabbit’s foot attached to a small length of chain. I had a vague idea that it was supposed to be lucky in some way, like heather and four-leafed clovers” (210). When Henry finally leaves the Chelsea house himself, he leaves the rabbit’s foot with Serenity in her crib to help bring her good luck. In a sense, this turns out to be true: Libby is adopted by a nice family and grows up comfortable and healthy. When Libby is given the rabbit’s foot again as an adult, it represents her connection to the Chelsea house and to the Lamb family, and it is one of the clues that helps her unravel her family’s story. 

The mansion’s rooftop plays an important role in the story. Phin first shows the rooftop to Henry. When Henry learns about the rooftop, he thinks, “I could hardly believe that my father did not know about this space. He always complained about having a north-facing garden, that he could not enjoy the evening sun. Yet up here was a private oasis which caught the sun all day long” (151). Already, the rooftop represents freedom and happiness for Henry. Henry is able to spend time alone with Phin and away from the adults. Henry remembers the rooftop again when he thinks, “And then I thought of the feeling of Phin’s hand in my hand on the roof, and thought that we were also keys unlocking each other, but letting out something remarkable and good” (157). Eventually, Phin shows Henry how he can sneak out of the house by climbing down from the rooftop. On the night that Birdie, David, and Henry’s parents die, Henry wraps up Birdie’s body and stashes it on the rooftop. When Henry returns to the Chelsea house 25 years later as an adult, he takes apart Birdie’s bones, which are all that remain of her body, and throw them into the Thames river. Even though the rooftop’s purpose is much darker in this case, it still represents one of the steps in Henry’s ultimate escape from the house. Finally, Henry uses the entryway through the rooftop to break into the house again when he learns that Libby has returned to claim her inheritance.