The Woman Upstairs

Nora Eldridge has always been a good girl: a good daughter, colleague, friend, employee. She teaches at an elementary school where the children and the parents adore her; but her real passion is her art, which she makes alone, unseen.

One day Reza Shahid appears in her classroom: eight years old, a perfect, beautiful boy. Reza's father has a fellowship at Harvard and his mother is a glamorous and successful installation artist. Nora is admitted into their charmed circle, and everything is transformed. Or so she believes. Liberation from her old life is not quite what it seems, and she is about to suffer a betrayal more monstrous than anything she could have imagined.

Long-listed for Scotiabank Giller Prize 2013 (UK)

“This is a faultless, suspenseful novel”

Messud is a breathtaking writer ... a beautiful - and beautifully sustained - howl of fresh, fierce, furious rage. - Independent on Sunday

Comedy, pathos, sadness: nothing seems beyond her. Her new book has all this-and more. The Woman Upstairs is not a pretty read, but that is precisely what makes it so hard to put down. - The Economist

Messud's prose is a delight ... addictive, memorable, intense - Financial Times - Lionel Shriver

- Mail on Sunday

Claire Messud was born in 1966 and was educated at Yale and at Cambridge. She is the author of three novels including The Emperor's Children, a New York Times bestseller, and two novellas. She lives in Boston with her husband and their two children.

'Messud is a breathtaking writer . . . a beautiful - and beautifully sustained - howl of fresh, fierce, furious rage' Independent on Sunday Nora Eldridge has always been a good girl: a good daughter, colleague, friend, employee. She teaches at an elementary school where the children and the parents adore her; but her real passion is her art, which she makes alone, unseen. One day Reza Shahid appears in her classroom: eight years old, a perfect, beautiful boy. Reza's father has a fellowship at Harvard and his mother is a glamorous and successful installation artist. Nora is admitted into their charmed circle, and everything is transformed. Or so she believes. Liberation from her old life is not quite what it seems, and she is about to suffer a betrayal more monstrous than anything she could have imagined. 'Comedy, pathos, sadness: nothing seems beyond her . . . The Woman Upstairs is not a pretty read, but that is precisely what makes it so hard to put down' The Economist 'Uncomfortable, erudite, and deeply profound . . . Messud should achieve literary giant status before too long' Guardian

Nora Eldridge has always been a good girl: a good daughter, colleague, friend, employee. She teaches at an elementary school where the children and the parents adore her; but her real passion is her art, which she makes alone, unseen.One day Reza Shahid appears in her classroom: eight years old, a perfect, beautiful boy. Reza's father has a fellowship at Harvard and his mother is a glamorous and successful installation artist. Nora is admitted into their charmed circle, and everything is transformed. Or so she believes. Liberation from her old life is not quite what it seems, and she is about to suffer a betrayal more monstrous than anything she could have imagined.

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