Over the course of seventy years, from 1940 to 2010, the Cassar family—descendants of Europeans born in colonial Algeria—led a life marked by displacement and upheaval. They were torn apart during World War II, driven from their fraught colonial homeland, and left stateless after Algerian independence. This Strange Eventful History captures this sweeping historical backdrop while remaining, at its core, a deeply personal family narrative: the story of Gaston and Lucienne, whose idealized love both sustains and suffocates their children; of the siblings François and Denise, bound by their family's peculiar legacy; of François's relationship with Barbara, a woman from a vastly different cultural world; and of Chloe, the daughter of that union, who believes unearthing these buried family histories might lead to healing.

Drawing inspiration from elements of her own family's past, Claire Messud vividly portrays the inner lives of her characters as they navigate the turbulence of recent history. This Strange Eventful History is as intimate as it is far-reaching—“a tour de force… one of those rare novels that a reader doesn’t merely read but inhabits alongside the characters.”