Claire McMillan is the author of Alchemy of a Blackbird, The Necklace and Gilded Age, which was inspired by Edith Wharton’s House of Mirth. She was the 2017–2018 Cuyahoga County Writer-in-Residence and currently serves as a member of the board of trustees of The Mount, Edith Wharton’s home in Lenox, Massachusetts.
Claire McMillan is a novelist, most recently of Alchemy of a Blackbird, published by Atria/Simon & Schuster in July of 2023. She is also the author of The Necklace, which was published by Touchstone/Simon & Schuster in 2017, as well as Gilded Age, published by Simon & Schuster in 2012.
A native of Pasadena, California, she practiced law in San Francisco for six years before moving to Cleveland in 2003. As well as a JD, she holds an MFA in creative writing from Bennington College.
She was named the Cuyahoga County Public Library Writer in Residence for the 2017-2018 year. During that time, she taught four classes on craft that were open to the public at the Skirball Writing Center. Additionally, she held monthly office hours for aspiring writers that were open to the public.
She was also a Writer in Residence onsite at the Mount, Edith Wharton’s home in Lenox, Massachusetts. Her enthusiasm for her time there led to her being asked to serve as a Trustee on the Board of the Mount where she still serves today.
Alchemy of a Blackbird was named a Best Book of 2023 by Book Riot and earned starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Library Journal.
McMillan currently lives on her husband’s family farm outside of Cleveland, Ohio with their two children.
