Author Claire Messud talks about her new novel and how the protagonist in her book is different from other women protagonists.

Messud released her latest novel "The Women Upstairs" earlier last month. According to the author, while the book tells the story of a common woman who is the protagonist, she is very different from other female protagonists.

The book tells the story of a 37-year-old woman Nora, who is an elementary school teacher. She's very reliable, kind and responsible on the outside, but has a fury burning inside her because her dreams to become an artist have been suppressed. This fury is subjected to an outburst when Nora meets a woman who seems to have everything Nora doesn't - a family, a husband and a son. The plot of the novel thickens as Nora grows closer to the woman and her family.

Messud reveals that her inspiration for the main character of the book came from a response to existing, ranting, misfit narrators. "There aren't many ranting women. So she is, Nora is, a ranting woman who is - you wouldn't, meeting Nora, think of her as a misfit, but her interior life is roiling," says the author.

Talking about feminism in older generations, the author says that her mother was absolutely a feminist at heart. She said that her mother built her world around her children and her husband's career. "And the idea that she could realize her dreams was not possible. So it was something that was very much instilled in me by my mother that I needed to be financially independent. So for Nora, she has a similar message from her mother that you can't necessarily earn a living being an artist," she concluded.