''Wendy Erskine is a natural-born story-teller.'' Kevin Barry ''Wry and wise, gripping and funny'' David Nicholls (on Sweet Home ) Frankie, Miriam and Bronagh are all mothers to 18-year-old boys living in Belfast, though that''s about all they have in common. Glamorous Frankie, now married to a wealthy, older man, grew up in care. Miriam has recently lost her beloved husband Kahlil in ambiguous circumstances. Bronagh, the CEO of a children''s services charity, is high on the celebrity and prestige this brings her. They do not know each other yet, but when their sons are accused of sexually assaulting a young woman whose family lacks the wealth and social-standing of their own, they''ll leverage all the power of their position and class to protect their children. The Benefactors is a novel about mothers and sons, fathers and daughters, about privilege, entitlement and the transformative power of money. It''s about how the actions of one night can have devastating consequences. But most of all, it''s about the people involved - you feel for them, you hate them, and they make you laugh.

Autorentext
Wendy Erskine is the author of two short story collections, Sweet Home and Dance Move. She was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize and the Republic of Consciousness Prize, longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award, and she received the Butler Literary Award and the Edge Hill Readers' Choice Award. She edited the art anthology well I just kind of like it. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, she is a frequent broadcaster and interviewer, and works as a secondary school teacher in Belfast. The Benefactors is her debut novel.

Klappentext

AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVEL 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR NOVEL OF THE YEAR AT THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS
LONGLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE

**'What a joy it is to read'**
Michael Magee, author of Close to Home

**'I couldn't put this book down'**
Sheena Patel, author of I'm A Fan

**'Powerful, moving, compelling, utterly enthralling'**
Jon McGregor, author of Reservoir 13

'A prodigiously talented author: funny and brutal by turns'**
Guardian*

**'The style of Woolf but the heart of Dickens'**
Sunday Times

**'Vital reading'**
Spectator

Meet Frankie, Miriam and Bronagh: three very different women from Belfast, but all mothers to eighteen-year-old boys.

Gorgeous Frankie, now married to a wealthy, older man, grew up in care. Miriam has recently lost her beloved husband Kahlil in ambiguous circumstances. Bronagh, the CEO of a children's services charity, loves celebrity and prestige. When their sons are accused of sexually assaulting a friend, Misty Johnston, they'll come together to protect their children, leveraging all the powers they possess. But on her side, Misty has the formidable matriarch, Nan D, and her father, taxi-driver Boogie: an alliance not so easily dismissed.

Brutal, tender and rigorously intelligent, The Benefactors is a daring, multi-voice presentation of modern-day Northern Ireland. It is also very funny.