Claire Messud’s The Woman Upstairs was a New York Times, Washington Post, and Boston Globe best book of the year. She is also the author of the Man Booker Prize-longlisted The Emperor’s Children. When the World Was Steady and The Hunters were both finalists for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and The Last Life was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. All five books were New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year. Messud has been awarded Guggenheim and Radcliffe Fellowships and the Strauss Living award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.