Esther Chehebar’s debut novel, “Sisters of Fortune,” arrives like a perfectly rolled yebra—meticulously crafted, bursting with flavor, and steeped in generations of tradition. This coming-of-age story follows three Syrian Jewish sisters navigating the delicate balance between honoring their heritage and forging their own paths in contemporary Brooklyn. With the precision of someone who has clearly lived within this world, Chehebar delivers a nuanced exploration of identity, community expectations, and the courage required to choose authenticity over acceptance.
The Heart of the Story: Three Sisters, Three Journeys
The novel centers on the Cohen sisters, each representing a different response to the pressures of their tight-knit Syrian Jewish community. Fortune, the middle sister whose name serves as both blessing and burden, finds herself questioning her impending marriage to Saul Dweck just months before their wedding. Her decision to break off the engagement becomes the catalyst that forces all three sisters to examine their own choices and desires.
Nina, the eldest at twenty-six, faces the community’s whispered concerns about her unmarried status while discovering unexpected romance with Steven, a Jewish man from outside their insular world. Through Nina’s relationship, Chehebar expertly illustrates the community’s complex relationship with outsiders—even fellow Jews who don’t share their specific cultural background.
Lucy, the youngest, emerges as perhaps the most compelling character. Still in high school, she navigates a secret relationship with David, an older bachelor whose family’s wealth elevates him to community royalty. Lucy’s arc from teenage rebellion to eventual marriage provides both the novel’s most dramatic transformation and its most pointed commentary on how privilege can reshape traditional expectations.
The Power of Place and Community
Chehebar’s greatest strength lies in her ability to render the Syrian Jewish community of Brooklyn with both deep affection and unflinching honesty. The neighborhood emerges as a character itself, with its “Range Rovers and limestone” exterior masking the complex social dynamics beneath. The author’s insider perspective allows her to navigate between stereotype and truth, presenting a community that is neither the “Barbie Dreamhouse” it appears to outsiders nor the oppressive patriarchy it might seem to those seeking simple narratives about religious communities.
The novel excels in its portrayal of how tradition manifests in daily life. From the meticulous preparation of yebra (stuffed grape leaves) under Sitto’s watchful eye to the elaborate swanee gift exchanges, Chehebar demonstrates how cultural practices carry both beauty and burden. These moments never feel like cultural tourism; instead, they reveal how tradition can be both anchor and chain.
Language and Voice: A Masterful Blend
One of the novel’s most impressive achievements is Chehebar’s handling of language. She seamlessly weaves Arabic and Hebrew phrases into the narrative without making them feel like exotic ornaments. The dialogue captures the specific cadences of Syrian Jewish speech patterns—the way English bends around ancestral languages, the coded expressions that carry generations of meaning. The glossary at the novel’s end serves not as a crutch but as an invitation for readers to fully immerse themselves in this linguistic landscape.
The shifting perspectives between the three sisters allow Chehebar to explore different aspects of their shared world. Fortune’s voice carries the weight of duty and expectation; Nina’s bristles with intellectual curiosity and barely contained frustration; Lucy’s pulses with youthful energy and determination. Each voice feels authentic and distinct, a testament to Chehebar’s skill in character development.
Themes That Resonate Beyond Brooklyn
While deeply rooted in Syrian Jewish culture, the novel’s themes speak to universal experiences of coming-of-age within traditional communities. The tension between individual desire and collective expectation reverberates through each sister’s story. Chehebar explores how women negotiate agency within structures that seem to offer limited choices, finding that rebellion and acceptance often coexist in complicated ways.
The novel’s treatment of marriage is particularly nuanced. Rather than presenting matrimony as either liberation or oppression, Chehebar shows how it functions differently for each character. Fortune’s broken engagement represents a reclaiming of choice; Lucy’s marriage becomes a pathway to elevated status; Nina’s relationship offers a bridge between worlds. This complexity elevates the narrative beyond simple feminist messaging into something more honest and multifaceted.
Where the Novel Stumbles
Despite its many strengths, “Sisters of Fortune” occasionally suffers from the weight of its own ambitions. Some secondary characters, particularly the men in the sisters’ lives, feel underdeveloped compared to the richly rendered female characters. Saul, Fortune’s ex-fiancé, exists more as symbol than person, though this may be intentional given Fortune’s own emotional distance from him.
The novel’s pacing sometimes slows under the burden of cultural exposition. While Chehebar’s attention to detail creates an immersive world, certain scenes feel more instructional than narrative, particularly when explaining religious practices or community customs. The balance between showing and telling occasionally tips toward the latter.
Additionally, while the novel’s ending provides satisfying closure for each sister’s immediate arc, some larger questions about community evolution and generational change feel unresolved. This may be intentional—real life rarely offers neat conclusions—but it leaves readers wanting more exploration of how these individual choices might reshape community expectations.
A Notable Debut with Literary Promise
Chehebar’s background as a contributor to publications like Tablet magazine and her previous work on the children’s book “I Share My Name” clearly informed her understanding of Sephardic tradition and family dynamics. This expertise shows in every carefully crafted scene of domestic life and community interaction.
The novel’s structure, alternating between the sisters’ perspectives, creates a compelling rhythm that mirrors the push and pull of family relationships. Chehebar demonstrates particular skill in rendering the subtle dynamics of female relationships—the way sisters can be simultaneously supportive and competitive, the complex negotiations between mothers and daughters, the coded communications between women across generations.
Cultural Context and Literary Significance
“Sisters of Fortune” arrives at a moment when American literature is expanding to include more diverse voices and experiences. While Syrian Jewish stories have appeared in literature before, few have been told with such insider authenticity and narrative sophistication. Chehebar joins authors like Ayad Akhtar and Hala Alyan in exploring how immigrant communities navigate American life while maintaining cultural identity.
The novel’s treatment of religion strikes a particularly balanced note. Rather than presenting faith as either refuge or restriction, Chehebar shows how religious practice functions as both comfort and challenge for her characters. This nuanced approach distinguishes the work from both stereotypical secular critiques of religious life and overly romanticized portrayals of traditional communities.
For Readers Who Appreciate
Readers who enjoyed books like “The Yacoubian Building” by Alaa Al Aswany or “The Arrangement” by Ashley Warlick will find much to appreciate in Chehebar’s exploration of family dynamics and cultural expectations. Those drawn to coming-of-age stories with strong sense of place, such as Jumpa Lahiri’s “The Namesake” or Cristina García’s “Dreaming in Cuban,” will recognize similar themes of identity navigation and generational conflict.
The novel will particularly resonate with readers interested in contemporary Jewish American literature, women’s fiction that examines choice and agency, and stories that illuminate specific cultural communities without resorting to exoticism or oversimplification.
Similar Reads for Your Next Book
If you enjoyed “Sisters of Fortune,” consider these comparable novels:
- “The World to Come” by Dara Horn – Explores Orthodox Jewish life with similar attention to tradition and individual choice
- “When We Flew Away” by Alice Hoffman – Another multigenerational story of Jewish women facing impossible choices
- “Everything I Never Told You” by Celeste Ng – Family dynamics and cultural expectations in a different cultural context
- “The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan – Generational conflict and cultural preservation within immigrant families
- “Brooklyn” by Colm Tóibín – Immigration, tradition, and the challenge of choosing between worlds
Final Verdict: A Promising Literary Voice
“Sisters of Fortune” succeeds as both an engaging family drama and a window into a specific American community rarely seen in contemporary fiction. Chehebar demonstrates remarkable skill for a debut novelist, creating characters who feel real enough to invite to Shabbat dinner while exploring themes that extend far beyond their Brooklyn neighborhood.
The novel’s greatest achievement lies in its refusal to offer simple answers to complex questions about tradition, choice, and identity. Instead, Chehebar presents a world where these forces coexist in constant tension, where individual happiness and community belonging need not be mutually exclusive, and where the act of choosing—whether to stay or go, to conform or rebel—represents its own form of courage.
While not without minor flaws, “Sisters of Fortune” announces Esther Chehebar as a voice worth following. Her ability to balance cultural specificity with universal themes, combined with her evident skill in character development and dialogue, suggests that this debut is merely the beginning of what promises to be a significant literary career. For readers seeking stories that illuminate the complexities of contemporary American life while honoring the richness of cultural tradition, “Sisters of Fortune” offers a deeply satisfying and memorable reading experience.