THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS, by Claire Messud

  Poor, poor Nora Etheridge, that woman upstairs.  You know the one, pleasant, genteel, a good neighbor, always helpful, never demanding, forever single and trapped in a career – teaching art to third graders – that is far below her true talents.  Does she complain?  Never!  She soldiers on bravely, quietly, admirably.  Yet she seethes.  […]