Esther Gelderblom has been waiting for a house for twenty years. In the bitter Oudtshoorn winter she and her friend Katjie queue to ask when their names will finally appear on the government's list of housing recipients. Esther dreams of a home for her daughter Liedjie, who plays the keyboard for the Bless Me Jesus church, and for her husband, Neville, who will then get his life in order. But corruption is rife as housing officials manipulate the list for favours. When Katjie's shack burns down, the two women take matters into their own hands, occupying two empty houses and setting in motion events that will compromise everything they hold dear. Esther's House is a story of greed, power, and the fight for what is right when good people are pushed too far.

Author of the highly acclaimed novel My Children Have Faces, Carol Campbell is a journalist who has worked for the Argus, the Cape Times and the Mercury. She currently lives in Durban with her family.