Nora Eldridge has been treading water as a third-grade
teacher, since nursing her mother through a 4-year terminal illness. Her inertia comes to an abrupt end, however,
when the Shahid family moves to town.
First, their son, Reza, a beautiful blending of his Lebanese father and
Italian mother, joins her class. Then
Reza's mother, Sirena, asks Nora to share a rented art studio, and Nora springs
to life, recommitting herself to her artistic endeavors, which are tiny
dollhouse replicas of the rooms inhabited by some of her favorite female role
models. Finally, she swoons over
Sirena's husband Skandar, so that now she is infatuated with all three. This charismatic family is a mixed blessing
for Nora. On the one hand, they inspire
Nora to embrace life, but, on the other hand, that life centers around the
Shahids, who are destined to leave the country within a year. As a reader, we can detect that perhaps
something nefarious is going on, but Nora is oblivious to all the warning
signs. Only 8-year-old Reza seems to
value Nora with sincerity, while his parents supply her with the flattery that
she craves. When the Shahids return to Paris,
Nora finds herself in holding pattern again, hanging on their every communication,
no matter how slight. Their appalling betrayal,
however, is much more monumental than the simple abandonment of a loyal friend. After Nora discovers what they're really up
to, she becomes livid, and she describes that anger at the beginning of the
novel. After finishing the book, with
the benefit of knowing why Nora is justifiably angry, I had to reread the
opening pages. She also describes there
how carnival Fun Houses are more scary than fun, with their warped mirrors and
slanted perspectives, but the Shahids are not so much scary as just plain weird.
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