The Woman Upstairs
At the beginning of this book we meet Nora Eldridge, the self-confident woman and very angry woman. As she herself tries to comprehend how she came to be the woman she is today Nora takes us back 5 years to the time she met and, literally became part of the Shahid family. At that time Nora was a discontented schoolteacher and a wanna-be artist with neither the drive nor conviction to be really outstanding at either occupation. Then the Shahid’s moved to Boston, their son Reza joined her class and before you know it Nora was Reza’s official baby sitter, his mother Sirena’s studio-mate and his father Skandar’s confidant. In turn and by degrees she falls into some form of love with all three of them. She begins to feel important in their lives and, finally, seems to have a purpose in her own life. Nora learned the hard way that when you determine your own self worth by what you think you mean to others you are bound to get heartbroken.When I turned the final page in this book I had to sit back for minute and wonder why I read the whole thing. I know I didn’t care for any of the Shahid family and I wasn’t too sure I even enjoyed Nora or her story very much. Maybe I missed something? I looked up some reviews by other readers and came across one review I wish I had read before I checked this book out of the library.
The review said “If you are someone that must "like" or identify with the characters in the books that you choose...don't choose this one” and “If you are adverse to learning about different and interesting art mediums...avoid this one.”
I wish I had read the review before I started the book.
