The Woman Upstairs
Claire Messud
Virago
Dh85
Nearly seven years after the publication of her last novel, Claire Messud returns with The Woman Upstairs, her ferocious new work of fiction.
Messud’s central character is Nora Marie Eldridge, a third-grade teacher at an unexceptional elementary school in Massachusetts. She is the so-called female above of the book’s title, ”the quiet woman at the end of the hallway, whose trash is always tidy, who smiles brightly in the stairwell with a cheerful greeting, and who, from behind closed doors, never makes a sound”.
Born into an ordinary family, Eldridge was a prodigiously talented child who sensed she was destined for greatness in adulthood, only for her promise to falter on her own flaws.
By the time the reader meets Eldridge, she is a wounded and bereft middle-aged animal, strafed with regret, seething with barely concealed self-loathing: “How angry am I? You don’t want to know.”
The author unpacks her narrator’s deep sense of dissatisfaction over large sections of the early chapters: “I’m not crazy,” contests Eldridge. “Angry, yes; crazy, no … I’m forty-two years old … Neither old, nor young. I’m neither fat nor thin, neither pretty nor plain. I’m neither married nor divorced, but single.”
Messud’s prose is blistering, crackling with breathtaking intensity. Waves of bile and wails of frustration wash in with each successive paragraph. “I always thought I’d get farther,” Eldridge tells us, “I’d like to blame the world for what I’ve failed to do, but the failure is all mine.”
The book hinges on the introduction of Reza Shahid, a timid but charming eight-year-old boy, who is a new arrival in Eldridge’s third grade class. Shahid’s command of English is cripplingly poor and he is soon bullied on the school playground and taunted by his all-American classmates for being a “terrorist”. Named after Iran’s deposed shah, Reza is, in fact, the son of Skandar from Lebanon, and Sirena, his Italian mother.
Sirena and Eldridge, parent and teacher, bond over Reza’s wounds and the two women forge an unlikely extra-curricular friendship rooted in art. The former is an emerging European artist, the latter regrets forsaking the dreams of her youth for the terrible and lonely treadmill of convention she now trudges on.
The pair rent studio space in a scruffy former industrial warehouse, Sirena to work on her expansive, career-defining Wonderland art installation, Eldridge to piece together a series of claustrophobic, intricately detailed shoebox-sized dioramas.
When Reza is attacked again, the women’s relationship grows stronger still. Slowly, Eldridge becomes consumed by the “familyness” of the Shahid clan and she simultaneously and jealously falls in love with husband, wife and son.
She shifts between “fantasies of intimacy” and concerns of “bleak rejection” and matters begin to get catastrophically messy. Nothing good can come of Eldridge’s ruinous obsessions, as the book’s devilish denouement bears out.
After a long hiatus, Messud is back and it was worth the wait. The Woman Upstairs is an intoxicating read, even if the anger rarely subsides from its punchy beginning to its dramatic ending.
nmarch@thenational.ae
WWE TLC results
Asuka won the SmackDown Women's title in a TLC triple threat with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair
Dean Ambrose won the Intercontinental title against Seth Rollins
Daniel Bryan retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against AJ Styles
Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women's Championship against Nia Jax
Rey Mysterio beat Randy Orton in a chairs match
Finn Balor defeated Drew McIntyre
Natalya beat Ruby Riott in a tables match
Braun Strowman beat Baron Corbin in a TLC match
Sheamus and Cesaro retained the SmackDown Tag Titles against The Usos and New Day
R-Truth and Carmella won the Mixed Match Challenge by beating Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The specs: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Price, base: Dh1,731,672
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 770hp @ 8,500rpm
Torque: 720Nm @ 6,750rpm
Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Virtuzone GCC Sixes
Date and venue Friday and Saturday, ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City
Time Matches start at 9am
Groups
A Blighty Ducks, Darjeeling Colts, Darjeeling Social, Dubai Wombats; B Darjeeling Veterans, Kuwait Casuals, Loose Cannons, Savannah Lions; C Awali Taverners, Darjeeling, Dromedary, Darjeeling Good Eggs
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The squad traveling to Brazil:
Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.
Results
Men's finals
45kg:Duc Le Hoang (VIE) beat Zolfi Amirhossein (IRI) points 29-28. 48kg: Naruephon Chittra (THA) beat Joseph Vanlalhruaia (IND) TKO round 2.
51kg: Sakchai Chamchit (THA) beat Salam Al Suwaid (IRQ) TKO round 1. 54kg: Veerasak Senanue (THA) beat Huynh Hoang Phi (VIE) 30-25.
57kg: Almaz Sarsembekov (KAZ) beat Tak Chuen Suen (MAC) RSC round 3. 60kg: Yerkanat Ospan (KAZ) beat Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) 30-27.
63.5kg: Abil Galiyev (KAZ) beat Nouredine Samir (UAE) 29-28. 67kg: Narin Wonglakhon (THA) beat Mohammed Mardi (UAE) 29-28.
71kg: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) w/o Shaker Al Tekreeti (IRQ). 75kg: Youssef Abboud (LBN) w/o Ayoob Saki (IRI).
81kg: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) beat Khaled Tarraf (LBN) 29-28. 86kg: Ali Takaloo (IRI) beat Emil Umayev (KAZ) 30-27.
91kg: Hamid Reza Kordabadi (IRI) beat Mohamad Osaily (LBN) RSC round 1. 91-plus kg: Mohammadrezapoor Shirmohammad (IRI) beat Abdulla Hasan (IRQ) 30-27.
Women's finals
45kg: Somruethai Siripathum (THA) beat Ha Huu Huynh (VIE) 30-27. 48kg: Thanawan Thongduang (THA) beat Colleen Saddi (PHI) 30-27.
51kg: Wansawang Srila Or (THA) beat Thuy Phuong Trieu (VIE) 29-28. 54kg: Ruchira Wongsriwo (THA) beat Zeinab Khatoun (LBN) 30-26.
57kg: Sara Idriss (LBN) beat Zahra Nasiri Bargh (IRI) 30-27. 60kg: Kaewrudee Kamtakrapoom (THA) beat Sedigheh Hajivand (IRI) TKO round 2.
63.5kg: Nadiya Moghaddam (IRI) w/o Reem Al Issa (JOR).
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
