The Emperor's Children is a 2006 novel by the American author Claire Messud. It is the author's third novel—and her first best-seller. It was longlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize.
The novel focuses on the stories of three friends in their early thirties, living in Manhattan in the months leading up to the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Each of the three is well-educated and privileged, but each struggles with realizing the lofty expectations for individual personal and professional lives.
