62 pages 2 hours read

Lisa Jewell

The Family Remains

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Character Analysis

Henry Lamb

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual assault.

Henry Lamb is 42 years old and a founding partner of a software-design company. He lives in an apartment in London, and for the past year, his sister, Lucy, nephew, Marco, and niece, Stella, have been living with him. Henry is preoccupied with appearances. He likes everything in his apartment to be perfectly clean and organized, which causes some tension between him and Lucy. He also coaches Lucy on what she should wear, and internally criticizes others based on how they look. Henry has had several cosmetic procedures over the years in an attempt to look like Phin Thomsen, his childhood crush. Even though Henry hasn’t seen or spoken to Phin for 26 years, he is obsessed with the 16-year-old Phin he used to know, to the point of impersonating Phin. Henry has even designed his apartment with Phin in mind, choosing items that he thought would fit Phin’s style.

Henry’s character is enigmatic. Sometimes, he is shown to be dark, obsessive, and unstable. Other times, he is relatable and seems to be putting his dark side behind him. This makes it hard to classify Henry as simply good or evil.