The plot of A Strange Marriage is based on a true story. A young man of noble birth, Count János Buttler, is about to be married to his childhood sweetheart, the daughter of a neighbouring squire ... The ensuing adventures of János are set against the background of the Hungarian countryside in the early 19th century.
The story unites romance and realism. Mikszáth gives a vivid impression of the feudal power of the nobility and the unappealable authority of the Catholic Church.
A Strange Marriage continues to be one of the most popular Hungarian novels, and it has been dramatized and filmed.