Order of Claire Messud Books
Claire Messud is an American novelist. She grew up in the U.S., Australia and Canada, and was educated at University of Toronto Schools and Milton Academy. She also studied at Yale University, Cambridge University and Syracuse University. She is a recipient of Guggenheim and Radcliffe Fellowships and the Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Claire lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her family.
Claire Messud made her debut as a novelist in 1994 with the novel When the World Was Steady. Below is a list of Claire Messud’s books in order of when they were originally published:
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| When the World Was Steady | (1994) |    |
| The Last Life | (1999) | |
| The Emperor's Children | (2006) | |
| The Woman Upstairs | (2013) | |
| The Burning Girl | (2017) | |
Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas
| The Hunters | (2001) | |
| The Professor's History | (2006) | |
| A Dream Life | (2021) | |
Publication Order of Non-FIction Books
| Kant's Little Prussian Head and Other Reasons Why I Write | (2020) | |
Publication Order of Anthologies
| Granta 51: Big Men | (1995) | |
| Ploughshares Summer 2016 Guest-Edited by Claire Messud & James Wood | (2016) | |
Note: Ploughshares Summer 2016 was edited with James Wood.
If You Like Claire Messud Books, You’ll Love…
- Elizabeth Strout
- Jesmyn Ward
- Jennifer Egan
Claire Messud Synopsis: In When the World Was Steady by Claire Messud, life isn’t all Emmy and Virginia Simpson were hoping for. When Emmy’s marriage to an Australian man comes to an end, she leaves Sydney for the tropical paradise of Bali to “find herself” – only to become embroiled with an eclectic crew of international misfits and smugglers. Her sister Virginia, meanwhile, has never wandered far outside of London. Prim and pious, Virginia is struggling to find something more to life and her aging mother thinks a visit to the Isle of Skye is just what she needs. On these two islands halfway around the world, the middle-aged sisters confront their lives and their destinies with unexpected consequences.