Her father is the sociologist and writer Gerhard Durlacher, who survived the Auschwitz concentration camp.

She is married to novelist Leon de Winter and they have two children, Moos and Moon (Solomonica).

[1] Jessica Durlacher writes book reviews and columns for several magazines, such as Vrij Nederland.

She made her debut as a novelist in 1997 with Het Geweten (The Conscience), following with De Dochter (The Daughter) in 2000.

[2] In the fall of 2005 she was a co-professor, together with Johan Snapper and Leon de Winter, at Berkeley of the course titled Anne Frank and After, focusing on Dutch Holocaust literature and film, and recent religious and political developments in the Netherlands.