Nora Eldridge is a dutiful daughter, considerate neighbor, and exemplary third-grade teacher. She’s also a seething cauldron of rage whose barely repressed id goes haywire when she encounters the glamorous Shahids. She quickly befriends Sirena—a revered artist and confidence conduit—who encourages Nora to rediscover her own creative ambitions, becomes a confidante to the entertaining, enigmatic Skandar, and an honorary aunt to their darling son, Reza.
Though plenty of eInk has been spilled over Nora’s “unlikability”, Messud’s surprising, astute portrait of a misanthrope who is still seeking love and meaning will force you to care about her fate. And how will it end? Prison? A sanitarium? In a life with fulfilled artistic ambitions and satisfied material needs? Read this unsettling, incisive, and psychologically suspenseful book to find out!