Summer Sale! Save 25% off a BookBrowse Membership, offer ends soon!

What do readers think of This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud? Write your own review.

Summary | Reviews | More Information | More Books

This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud

This Strange Eventful History

A Novel

by Claire Messud

  • Critics' Consensus (22):
  • Readers' Rating (22):
  • Published:
  • May 2024, 448 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Reviews

Page 3 of 3
There are currently 22 reader reviews for This Strange Eventful History
Order Reviews by:

Write your own review!

Randi H. (Bronx, NY)

A moving tale of loss
Covering a span of 70 years, This Strange Eventful History tells the story of a family as they search for home. Uprooted from their lives for reasons as varied as war, love, and career, the Cassare family struggles to be happy where they land.
I was drawn to the moving depictions of the primary characters as they struggled with their relationships to their homes and one another. And I enjoyed the varied locations across the globe as the family moved around, including Algeria, Australia, and Argentina. I think anyone who appreciates a sweeping family saga would enjoy this book.
Power Reviewer
Julie M. (Coon Rapids, MN)

Multi- Generational Story
I usually love a family drama that stretches over several generations, but this one left me cold. Even knowing some of these events were from Messud's life couldn't keep me focused or invested in the Cassie family.
Joshua M. (westfield, NJ)

An Unmoored Clan
This Strange Eventful History is the latest novel to find a place on Claire Messud's crammed bookshelf. Strange/History follows generations of the Cassar clan, as its members — each lugging a steamer trunk of personal shortcomings — roam the world unmoored seeking to live a fulfilling life. Messud packs the four hundred plus pages with literary sentences/paragraphs that initially prove engaging but become tiresome, forcing the reader on unnecessary detours down story side streets.

The main characters are well developed and evolve nicely throughout the chapters, but none of them elicit empathy and that proved tomore
Vicki O. (Studio Citu, CA)

Not for me
I loved Claire Messud's other books but not this one. This is a very slow moving family saga. I found that the fine storytelling got lost or bogged down in description minutia. As a result, i lost interest in the characters and the narrative. I know that much of the story is based on Messud's life and i wonder if it would have been better as a memoir.
Power Reviewer
Doris K. (Mountain Iron, MN)

This Strange Eventual History
This book was very hard for me to continue reading but I did finish it. The main themes seemed to be unhappy lives, dementia, illness and death. It covers a long period of time and many people which make it difficult to relate to individuals. A strong family theme is portrayed often with love but negative consequences.
The strong point of this novel is the excellent writing by Claire Messud. Descriptions of people and geographical areas are outstanding. For this reason I plan to read another of her books.
Patricia L. (Seward, AK)

More strange than eventful
Messud's novel follows the Cassars, a family of Pied-Noir, from 1940 to the 2000's. Wikipedia describes Pied-Noirs as "…an ethno-cultural group of people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French rule from 1830 to 1962." Most Pied-Noirs were aligned with the French. Consequently, when Algeria won independence from France, many migrated away from their birthplace permanently. Messud states the work is fiction yet follows her family's experience.
All of the above sets the stage for wonderful historical fiction. Yet Messud treats the history as secondary to the familymore
  • Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

Read-Alikes

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    Before Dorothy
    by Hazel Gaynor
    Before Oz, Aunt Em leaves Chicago for Kansas in a powerful tale of courage, change, and new beginnings by Hazel Gaynor.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Making Friends Can Be Murder
    by Kathleen West

    Thirty-year-old Sarah Jones is drawn into a neighborhood murder mystery after befriending a deceptive con artist.

  • Book Jacket

    Ordinary Love
    by Marie Rutkoski

    A riveting story of class, ambition, and bisexuality—one woman risks everything for a second chance at first love.

Who Said...

Read the best books first...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

C K the C

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.