CBC, Best Canadian Fiction of 2023

With imaginative aplomb and abiding passion, The Syrian Ladies Benevolent Society masterfully traces the deep roots of the Arab immigrant experience. These unforgettable interlocking stories follow an Arab family as they flee the Middle East in the nineteenth century, settle in Montreal in the twentieth, and face the collision between tradition and modernity in the twenty-first. This family includes trailblazing Lebanese freedom fighters, undercover operatives in World War II, and brave Syrian refugees trying to find their place in Canadian society.

The line of daring women culminates in Azurée, a young Arab woman living in the echoes of her ancestors' voices.

CHRISTINE ESTIMA is an Arab woman of mixed ethnicity (Lebanese, Syrian, and Portuguese) and the author of the short story collection The Syrian Ladies Benevolent Society. She has written for the New York Times, The Walrus, VICE, the Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Maisonneuve, the Toronto Star, and the CBC. Her story “Your Hands Are Blessed” was included in Best Canadian Stories 2023. She was shortlisted for the 2018 Allan Slaight Prize for Journalism and a finalist for the 2023 Lee Smith Novel Prize. Christine has a master’s degree from York University and lives in Toronto.

Christine Estima's profile page

• Commended, CBC 2023 Best Canadian Fiction

"Across the varying settings and time periods, what remains consistent is Estima’s detailed and evocative prose as she weaves a haunting tale of how the pain of loss—whether of our home, our loved ones or our sense of self—reverberates across generations." — Maisonneuve

"Years in the making, [The Syrian Ladies Benevolent Society] reveals a writer who is sure of her subject and craft … Precise and sensitive." — Literary Review of Canada

"In writing across cultures, borders, and centuries, Estima credits her ancestors with direct inspiration: ‘I hear your voices in my veins; you will not be forgotten.’ Neither will Estima's enthralling writing." — Shelf Awareness

“The Syrian Ladies Benevolent Society is a brisk and exciting debut from a writer we can’t wait to hear from again.” — Apple Books

"The material in these stories often does more than just flirt with dark subject matter, but the author’s empathy and sharp understanding of human frailty nevertheless injects The Syrian Ladies Benevolent Society with the vibrancy of life. The book opens with a reference to fire, and Estima is a valiant recorder of the heat that burns us, inside and out." — That Shakespearean Rag

"Memorable, vivid, and subversive at times, the stories bring to life a type of female experience seldom seen in immigrant narratives." — New Canadian Media

"A genuine and compelling narrative … The Syrian Ladies’ Benevolent Society is smart, elegant, and a necessary contribution to the overall literature challenging so many suffocating cultural stereotypes in Canadian society." — The Miramichi Reader