Claire Messud | The Woman Upstairs

“The Woman Upstairs" by Claire Messud is a thought-provoking novel that explores the complexities of identity, desire, and artistic ambition. Messud's prose is sharp, evocative, and masterfully crafted, making for a gripping and emotionally charged reading experience. 

Our Choice

Initially published in 2013 The Woman Upstairs received rave reviews by Dwight Garner of The New York Times. He said: The Woman Upstairs is an intelligent, beautifully written novel that is also fierce and unyielding. It’s a novel that makes you feel deeply, both for its narrator and for the world she inhabits. It’s a novel that leaves you feeling, in the end, a little wrung out, a little exhilarated, a little changed.” The Washington Post added: "The Woman Upstairs is an intense and powerful novel. Messud deftly explores the many ways in which we are held captive by our own desires, hopes, and regrets and how we can break free.”

About the Author

Claire Messud is an American-Australian-Canadian author born in 1966. She moved around a lot, living in the United States, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, and a year in Berlin. Since her debut novel, When The World Was Steady, was published in 1995, she has published several books and essays. She has been longlisted for prestigious literary awards such as the Man Booker Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Additionally, she has been awarded Guggenheim and Radcliffe Fellowships and received the Straus Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband and children.

About the Typography and Design

FF Franziska was designed by Jakob Runge, another modern re-interpretation of the classic serif model. The jacket was inspired by the materials that the two main characters used in their art.

About the production and materials

Letterpress printing: Die Lettertypen Berlin  on a 1954 Original Heidelberg Cylinder
Book jacket printed on Gmund Cotton Paper 
Paper: 90g Schleipen Werkdruck Endpapers: Peyer Surbalin Linea 
Cover linen: Schabert Brillianta 
Set in FF Franziska by Jakob Runge and FF Real by Erik Spiekermann

272 p.

ISBN 978-3-949164-06-4

Free Shipping