Relegated to the status of schoolteacher and friendly neighbor after abandoning her dreams of becoming a successful artist, Nora advocates on behalf of a charismatic Lebanese student and is drawn into the child's family until his artist mother's careless ambition leads to a shattering betrayal. Nora Eldridge, a 37-year-old elementary school teacher in Cambridge, Massachusetts has become the 'woman upstairs', a reliable friend and tidy neighbor always on the fringe of others' achievements. Then into her classroom walks Reza Shahid, a child who enchants as if from a fairy tale. His parents are Skandar, a Lebanese professor who has come to Boston for a fellowship at Harvard, and Sirena, an Italian artist. When Reza is attacked by schoolyard bullies who call him a terrorist, Nora is drawn into the complex world of the glamorous and cosmopolitan Shahid family.