"Strange" in what respect?
If you read a novel written over a hundred years ago its style will be different from novels written now, so can be hard to follow. Readers in the 19C would have said the same about novels written in the 18C.
What may help you is making notes as you go along.
Write down in a notebook the name of each character as you first meet them, their relationship to others (spouse, sister, parent, employer or employee etc.).
Then each important incident, in just a few words ("Mary met John - fell in love", or "Sam now employed by Smith & Sons".)
Most words in English mean the same now as they did two hundred years ago. A few words have changed their meanings, and realistic dialogue will show slang and colloquial language of its time.
The real changes are in the style: the way sentences are put together, so you need break them down to see their key words. Something like this....
Nineteenth-Century writers loved to be prolix, creating very long sentences that may be hard to follow even though their messages are quite straightforwards upon close examination.
Or, the same message in modern, lighter style:
Nineteenth-Century writers loved long sentences that look difficult but say simple things.
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I hope this helps!
