Esther’s Rooms – Mariia Oleksa (Ukrainian Softcover)

Esther’s Rooms is a poignant and imaginative contemporary novel by Ukrainian writer Mariia Oleksa, freshly published in 2025 by Vikhola. Told through the eyes of ten-year-old Esther, it portrays a family suffocated by love, despair, and helplessness. Esther’s father—a talented engineer and the owner of an amusement park—is sinking under the weight of alcoholism, and conventional attempts at salvation fall short. Alone, Esther retreats into her inner sanctuaries—“rooms” animated by the sea, air balloons, and the boundless safety of her dreams. In these metaphoric havens, she holds everything in her control and harbors hope: maybe even the chance to save her father.

This softcover edition spans 328 pages, in a compact 130 × 200 mm format, and weighs between 260–300 g—perfect for personal comfort and portability. Through lyrical prose and delicate emotional tension, Esther’s Rooms navigates themes of childhood resilience, trauma, and the healing power of imagination. The novel is both a tender testament to the inner life of children under duress and a compassionate portrayal of family fracture and endurance