This Strange Eventful History

I mean, it's a new Claire Messud -- of course it is going to be amazing. The novel traces the history of a family French settlers in Algeria, starting during World War Two and ending in the 2010s. The family moves around, becomes stateless, and fractures all over the globe, while remaining tightly bound. The elder child becomes a high powered CEO in a faltering marriage while the younger daughter never quite gains independence from her parents. The characters are richly drawn and the language is beautiful. An early contender for all the year end lists.

An epic tale, the story of the Cassar family, inspired by Messud's own family history. Moving through seven decades, mid-20th century through nearly the present day, and set in many places - Salonica, Algeria, Switzerland, Paris, Massachusetts, Toronto, Australia, and Connecticut - we meet the various Cassars, itinerant Algerians who are separated by WW II, and lose their homeland, alway in search of home, striving, faithful to each other and to their Catholicism, down through the generations, starting with Gaston and Lucienne, who marry and have a perfect idealized love, a love that has its own secret, the stories of their children, Francoise and Denise, and Francoise's marriage to Canadian Barbara, and their two daughters, Loulou, and Chloe, the single first-person narrator, and a writer. Intimate and expansive, their stories fold and unfold, secrets are gleaned and more. Atmospheric and immersive.

Thanks to W.W. Norton and Netgalley for the ARC.