The author of ‘This Strange Eventful History' spoke with PEOPLE at the Texas Book Festival about her thoughts on success and who she'd want to portray her characters Kristen O'Brien is a ...

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Welcome to Shelf Life, ELLE.com’s books column, in which authors share their most memorable reads.

Claire Messud is, for me, the epitome of a thriving working writer in America, her success evidence of a literary world, a system that often does not reward the most deserving of artists, for once ...

In a 2021 New York Times essay, Jonathan Lee probed the resurgence of the historical novel untethered from conventions of genre — a vital and groundbreaking form, more than just a dutiful recreation ...

Drawn from life: Claire Messud's notebook (left), and the handwritten memoir by her grandfather which inspired her new novel Claire Messud’s fourth novel, The Woman Upstairs (2013), was notable for ...

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Before she could write her new work of fiction, This Strange Eventful History, Claire Messud had to wait ...

Secrets and shame — every family has its share. When it came time to write her most autobiographical novel, Claire Messud relied on a 1,500-page family history compiled by her paternal grandfather.

Claire Messud's new novel, This Strange Eventful History, is a cosmopolitan, multigenerational story that, paradoxically, sticks close to home. Messud drew her novel from a handwritten memoir of over ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. The author of ‘This Strange Eventful History' spoke with PEOPLE at the Texas Book Festival about her thoughts on success and who ...

Our columnist picks the year’s outstanding books. By Alida Becker There are six American novels in the running for the prestigious British literary award, but only two by U.K. authors. By Alex ...