2024 Booker Longlist: This Strange eventful history by Claire Messud

Book 9 for our Booker panel is This Strange Eventful History. Only two of our judges managed to finish this one. One other abandoned it and the remaining two did not want to read it.

Cover blurb: An immersive, masterful story of a family born on the wrong side of history, from one of our finest contemporary novelists. 

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. This Strange Eventful History, told with historical sweep, is above all a family story: of patriarch Gaston and his wife Lucienne, whose myth of perfect love sustains them and stifles their children; of François and Denise, devoted siblings connected by their family’s strangeness; of François’s union with Barbara, a woman so culturally different they can barely comprehend one another; of Chloe, the result of that union, who believes that telling these buried stories will bring them all peace. 

Inspired in part by long-ago stories from her own family’s history, Claire Messud animates her characters’ rich interior lives amid the social and political upheaval of the recent past. As profoundly intimate as it is expansive, This Strange Eventful History is “a tour de force … one of those rare novels that a reader doesn’t merely read but lives through with the characters” 

You can purchase a copy of the book here.

Keep reading to find out how our panellists rated this book.

Jen’s Thoughts: It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book as thoroughly boring as this one. This was my first novel by this author and clearly it’s not the sort of writing I enjoy. I made it through only by sheer willpower although I came dangerously close to abandoning it (would have been the first time ever). Long meandering sentences, paragraphs upon paragraphs of descriptions of mundane things (luncheons, golfing, etc), and one of the most emotionally sterile books I’ve read. People died, things happened, and I felt a whole lot of nothing. I didn’t care about any of the characters, didn’t care to read about their daily lives and the only sensation I came close to was complete and utter apathy. I found myself reading 20-30 pages at a time in an utter blur, my eyes glazing over, and my attention wandering. In fact, I had to pinch myself to stay awake reading this book – literally.

There are books that I’ve hated because they have disgusted me or made me angry. There have been books I thought were poorly written or had themes I found poorly done. At least those books provoked an emotional reaction from me. I felt nothing for this book outside of an overwhelming sense of blah, like I was sitting in my home watching paint dry.

Note: lots of people loved it. I read the reviews after I read and finished my review. Perhaps this is a case for poor match between reader and narrative style and certainly my ratings were tied strongly to my dislike for the tedious process of reading it. I will say that the last 25% of the book picked up a bit for me and I was more engaged but overall, this book was a real struggle for me.

Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 1/5
Character development: 2/4
Plot development: 1/4
Overall enjoyment: 0/2
Did it deserve a spot on the longlist? No
Total: 7/20

Tracy’s Thoughts: Not only was this book dull as dishwater, the gotcha at the end pissed me off.
If the author wanted to air her family’s dirty laundry, she didn’t need to do it in a “novel”. And bore the audience to tears in the meantime. Sorry- I’m just bitter that I’m never gonna get those hours of my life back.

Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 1/5
Character development: 1/4
Plot development: 1/4
Overall enjoyment: 0/2
Did it deserve a spot on the longlist? Hell no.
Total: 6/20

Nicole’s Thoughts: I typically don’t make it through the entire longlist, I don’t force myself to read books I don’t enjoy or that don’t appeal in some way. This year because of a fortuitous head start, I was able to at least attempt the whole list. I don’t remember how far I made it in this book, but it was enough to let me know that it wasn’t for me. I never know what’s going to hit me as a surprise love (i.e. Milkman, and this year’s Stone Yard Devotional), so despite what I heard I went in open minded. It didn’t take long to close my mind and the book. ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……

Have you read this one? Let us know what you thought. All of our judges disliked this book but we do encourage you to read the other reviews out there since many people did like it. If you are on Litsy, check out the following users: rmaclean4 and graywacke. They both enjoyed the book.

Our panel’s final rankings

1. James: 19.2
2. The Safekeep 18.5
3. My Friends: 16
4. Held 15.8
5. Wild Houses 14.75
6. Wandering Stars: 13.5
7. Headshot: 12.1
8. Orbital 11.25
9. This Strange Eventful History: 6.5