A CBC Best Book of 2025

A sweeping, tragic romance and feminist adventure about translator and resistance fighter Milena Jesenská’s torrid love affair with Franz Kafka.

In 1919, Milena Jesenská, a clever and spirited twenty-three-year-old, is trapped in an unhappy marriage to literary critic Ernst Pollak. Since Pollak is unable to support the pair in Vienna’s post-war economy, Jesenská must supplement their income by working as a translator. Having previously met her compatriot Franz Kafka in the literary salons of Prague, she writes to him to ask for permission to translate his story “The Stoker” from German to Czech, becoming Kafka’s first translator. The letter launches an intense and increasingly passionate correspondence. Jesenská is captivated by Kafka’s energy, intensity, and burning ambition to write. Kafka is fascinated by Jesenská’s wit, rebellious spirit, and intelligence.

Jesenská and Kafka meet twice for lovers’ trysts, but can such an intense connection endure beyond a fleeting affair? In her remarkable debut novel, Christine Estima weaves little-known facts and fiction into a rich tapestry, powerfully portraying the struggles of a woman forced to choose between the roles of wife, lover, and intellectual.

Prizes

Commended for CBC Best Book of 2025 2025 (Canada)

"A steamy debut." —Library Journal

“Kafka devotees ought to take a look.” — Publisher’s Weekly

"An indelible portrait of a no-longer-invisible figure.” — Toronto Star

“A luminous novel of charged defiance and potent desire … [Letters to Kafka’s] success is that it does not characterize [Milena Jesenská’s] life as a tragedy, but as a triumph.“— Maisonneuve

“A powerful blend of history and fiction, and a worthy reminder of the great women who have lived too long in the shadows of great men.” — Zoomer 

"Readers will be moved and warmed by the fire of this wonderfully realized fiction.” — SubTerrain Magazine

“A richly imagined work of historical fiction.” — That Shakespearean Rag

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, which the CBC called one of the Best Fiction Books of 2023. 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 a finalist for the 2023 Lee Smith Novel Prize and was shortlisted for the 2018 Allan Slaight Prize for Journalism. Christine has a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from York University and lives in Toronto.