Nora Eldridge, 3rd grade school teacher in Cambrideg, Masachusetts leads an ordinary life. As she describes herself (the story is told in her voice), she is the ideal “woman upstairs” who never causes trouble, always smiles and says hello, and conducts a respectable existence. Abandoning her original desire to be an artist, Nora begins to pursue her art again when she becomes friendly with the artist mother of one of her students. The exotic Serena is temporarily living in Massachusetts while her husband is teaching at Harvard. She invites Nora to share studio space with her. Nora accepts the proposal more to become closer to the family which she is enthralled with rather than in pursuit of her art which leans towards creating doll-size dioramas of famous, dead, woman (think Emily Dickinson). Nora’s fascination with Serena’s family overshadows her own quiet existence and she fantasizes she is as important to them as they are to her. As Nora gets further involved with Serena’s family, she tries to rationalize her behavior and hopes to become a permanent friend.
