Wednesday, July 24, 2013

The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud



This is a novel about Nora, a lonely, thirty-seven year old teacher living in a two bedroom apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Even though Nora has set up her second bedroom as an art studio, she cannot find the inspiration needed to pursue her art. Her life changes when her new student Reza Shahid is attacked by bullies on her watch, and she meets Reza’s mother, a beautiful Italian artist married to a Lebanese professor teaching at Harvard on a fellowship for a year.

Nora soon becomes obsessed with this family. Through knowing them, she feels she has new purpose in life, and even begins to pursue her art. But with any obsession, there is always a price to pay.

This is a well written, psychological suspense novel, and the twist at the end will stay with you for some time.

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