Anka Muhlstein was born in Paris in 1935. In 1974, she began her writing career through the publication of French materials, specifically biographies. In 1996, she won the Goncourt Prize in 1996 for Letters from Russia. She is also the two-time recipient of the History Prize of the French Academy and the author of Monsieur Proust s Library and Balzac s Omelette: A Delicious Tour of French Food and Culture with Honore de Balzac. She resides in New York.