"Fantastic - one of those seemingly small stories that so burst with rage and desire that they barely squeeze between hard covers. The prose is impeccable.... Messud writes about happiness, and about infatuation - about love - more convincingly than any author I’ve encountered in years. She fills [her] protagonist with an inner life so rich and furious that you will never again nod hello in the hall to ‘the woman upstairs’ without thinking twice.... Is Nora’s entrancement erotic, or bigger and stranger than sex? I’m not telling. Read the book." (Lionel Shriver, National Public Radio, "All Things Considered")

"Bracing...not so much the story of the road not taken as that of the longed-for road that never appeared.... Nora’s anger electrifies the narrative, and Messud masterfully controls the tension and pace. In this fierce, feminist novel, the reader serves as Nora’s confessor, and it’s a pleasure to listen to someone so eloquent, whose insights about how women are valued in society and art are sharp." (Jenny Shank, Dallas News)

"An elegant winner of a novel...quietly, tensely unfolding.... Remarkably, Messud lets us experience Nora’s betrayal as if it were our own, and what finally happens really is a punch in the stomach. Highly recommended." (Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal)