This month we will be reading

This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud

An immersive, masterful story of a family born on the wrong side of history. Over seven decades, from 1940 to 2010, the pieds-noirs Cassars live in an itinerant state—separated in the chaos of World War II, running from a complicated colonial homeland, and, after Algerian independence, without a homeland at all. (Good Reads)

Claire Messud has transformed three generations of her family's story into a tour de force in This Strange Eventful History…all around them are the upheavals of the 20th century, but though Messud is working on a grand canvas, her skill is in miniature. History is dazzling in its fine-tuned character studies…all beautifully realized. This is a pointillist novel, profound in its portrayal of strains, bonds, and heartbreak. (Taylor Antrim in Vogue)

W. W. Norton and Company, published 2024, 448 pages

We hope you can join us to discuss this highly praised novel.