Na Valentijn - After Valentine

Rain, the daughter of hippie parents, grew up in Spain with her half-brothers, Storm and Forest, her twin brother, Ocean, and her half-sister, Pillow. As teenagers, Rain and the other children, neglected and abused, left their parents to build new lives in the Netherlands. Storm loses himself in numerous sexual affairs, including one with Rain. While Forest appears to lead a normal life, Pillow turns to alcohol for solace. Ocean becomes ensnared in psychosis and spirals downward. On Valentine’s Day, Pillow believes she sees Ocean’s spirit on her couch, leading Rain to suspect something more sinister must have happened to her twin brother. This launches a quest with profound consequences.

Na Valentijn is a dramatic yet darkly humorous story about five young adults, each struggling with their past in their own way—and linked by a secret that will bind them for life. The affection with which Ending portrays her characters makes Na Valentijn unforgettable.

Stille mensen - Silent People

When young, homeless Nicky accidentally ends up in an enormous squat called Pandemonium, life finally seems to smile upon her. She immediately feels at home in the picturesque rooms and the monumental courtyard and gets to know the resident groups that form a micro-society: hippies, fratboys, punks, artists, and intellectuals. Their relatively peaceful coexistence is violently disrupted when a party ends in a demolition spree by a group of neo-Nazis. Under the leadership of the charismatic Harm, the building is restored to its former glory. However, when some residents decide to expel a group of suspected junkies under suspicious circumstances, Nicky realizes that secret agendas are at play with far-reaching consequences. Pandemonium has become a human bomb on the verge of exploding.

Stille mensen is an exceptional novel about the intoxication of group euphoria and the end of individual thought. Esther J. Ending firmly establishes herself with this chilling, yet simultaneously thrilling and atmospheric novel.

Ibiza's Child

Ibiza, the 1980s. Marianne’s father is serving a prison sentence, and her relationship with her hippie mother is strained. One rainy afternoon, when her motorcycle breaks down, she accepts a lift from two members of the feared and hated Guardia Civil. Marianne is deeply impressed by one of them.

As her father's villa is dismantled and her mother becomes increasingly irrational, her fascination spirals into obsession. In a haze of alcohol and drugs, she teeters on the edge, risking not only her own downfall but also that of those around her.

A sweeping story of growing up, loneliness, obsession, and addiction on the island that captivates everyone’s imagination: Ibiza.

In this riveting and wickedly humorous time-travel series, young orphan Bobbie harbours dreams of becoming an inventor. Unbeknownst to her, she is the daughter of none other than Leonardo da Vinci, the genius inventor of a time travel machine back in 1482. An unfortunate accident has sent his baby daughter into the future – our world today. Ever since the incident, Leonardo has been desperately searching for her, in an overwhelming world wherein no one knows his true identity, often mistaking him for a homeless man.

Their long-awaited reunion is tainted when they discover they are being pursued by aliens with sinister plans to take over the world. These extraterrestrial beings aim to incapacitate humans with The Illness of Nothing, turning them into servile simpletons. Inventors, especially Leonardo and Bobbie, top their target list. To thwart this ghastly plan, father and daughter embark on a time-travel adventure through various eras, from the Romans to the Egyptians, in search of The Stone of Something—the key to the antidote for the illness.

The inspiration for this series came from Ending’s own child, who, at the age of six, yearned for history lessons not yet covered in school. Bobbie and her father’s historical escapades offer an enthralling and educational experience, presenting history basics in a most captivating manner.

The series (three books so far) has been an instant hit with readers, adults as well as children, who liken the writing style to Roald Dahl – bold, exciting, eccentric and wildly funny.

In this endearing and humorous tale of a witch family, two young sisters share their observations about their mother’s seemingly inexplicable fits of anger that occur like clockwork once a month. They suspect it might have something to do with the moon. Despite their best efforts to lift her spirits, their attempts result in unintended consequences. Whether it's baking a cake (that plunges the kitchen into absolute mayhem), creating an impressive painting (on the living room wall), or picking flowers (from their mother's own garden), their endeavours keep falling short. At the close of the story we find that although there's still no resolution, it's (always) only a short matter of time before their mother is her happy, loving self again.

This imaginative narrative not only resonates with parents who may draw parallels to the monthly cycle but also highlights the transient nature of strong emotions in general – something children themselves are familiar with.