The first of Camus's novels published in his lifetime, the story follows Meursault, an indifferent settler in French Algeria, who, weeks after his mother's funeral, kills an unnamed Arab man in Algiers.

[1] Camus completed the initial manuscript by May 1941, with revisions suggested by André Malraux, Jean Paulhan, and Raymond Queneau that were adopted in the final version.

It began being published in English from 1946, first in the United Kingdom, where its title was changed to The Outsider to avoid confusion with the translation of Maria Kuncewiczowa's novel of the same name; after being published in the United States, the novella retained its original name, and the British-American difference in titles has persisted in subsequent editions.

When asked if he wishes to view her body, he declines, and he smokes and drinks regular (white) coffee—not the obligatory black coffee—at the vigil held by the coffin the night before the burial with the caretaker.

Over the next few days, Meursault helps Raymond Sintès, a neighbor and friend who is rumored to be a pimp, but says he works in a warehouse, to get revenge on a Moorish mistress he suspects has been accepting gifts and money from another man.

While listening to Raymond, Meursault is unfazed by any feelings of empathy, does not express concern that she would be emotionally hurt by this plan and agrees to write the letter.

During one of these conversations, Salamano, who adopted the dog as a companion shortly after his wife's death, mentions that some neighbors had 'said nasty things' about Meursault after he sent his mother to a retirement home.

His general detachment and ability to adapt to any external circumstance seem to make living in prison tolerable, especially after he gets used to the idea of being restricted and unable to have sex with Marie, though he does realize at one point that he has been unknowingly talking to himself for a number of days.

For almost a year, he sleeps, looks out the small window of his cell, and mentally lists the objects in his old apartment while waiting for his day in court.

The chaplain believes Meursault's appeal will succeed in getting him released from prison, but says such an outcome will not get rid of his feelings of guilt or fix his relationship with God.

Yelling at the chaplain had emptied him of all hope or thoughts of escape or a successful appeal, so he manages to open his heart 'to the benign indifference of the universe' and decides that he has been, and still is, happy.

In his 1956 analysis of the novel, Carl Viggiani wrote: On the surface, L'Étranger gives the appearance of being an extremely simple though carefully planned and written book.

[15] Kamel Daoud has written a novel The Meursault Investigation (2013/2014), first published in Algeria in 2013, and then republished in France to critical acclaim.

This post-colonialist response to The Stranger counters Camus's version with elements from the perspective of the unnamed Arab victim's brother (naming him and presenting him as a real person who was mourned) and other protagonists.

Daoud explores their subsequent lives following the withdrawal of French authorities and most pied-noirs from Algeria after the conclusion of the Algerian War of Independence in 1962.

Gerhard Heller, a German editor, translator and lieutenant in the Wehrmacht working for the Censorship Bureau offered to help.

As a marketing ploy, the title pages and rear wrappers were inscribed to give the false impression that there were eight different editions.

At the time, Camus was suffering from a recurring bout of tuberculosis in Oran and could not travel to France and therefore could not keep with the French publishing tradition of presenting copies of his new book to journalists.

[17][18] Camus was further diagnosed with tuberculosis in both lungs in July 1942 and left Algeria for Panelier, a village near Le Chambon-sur-Lignon in the mountains of south-central France.

He believes this better expresses the character of Meursault, as developed in the novel, as someone who 'lives for the moment', 'does not consciously dwell on the past', and 'does not worry about the future'.