Bookseller Reviews
View all
Multi layered, thought provoking - what a debut!
A character driven story set in Northern Ireland with a young woman who has been sexually assaulted by three young men at its heart. Prepare to be grabbed ... READ MORE
Great debut
I’m obsessed with this book. It’s a powerful, poignant, but often darkly funny, social commentary of misogyny, class, and privilege in today’s Northern Ire... READ MORE
The type of book you're desperate to get back to!
Absolutely loved this incredible debut. Yes, some people have complained about too many "bystander voices" in the novel, but that really didn't bother me
... READ MORE
Accomplished and topical
An accomplished debut which addresses the current topic of toxic culture among young men. Set in Northern Ireland Frankie,Miriam and Bronnagh are mothers o... READ MORE
A Polyphonic Spree
After two excellent short story collections (Sweet Home and Dance Move), Irish author Wendy Erskine brings her formidable talents to this, her debut novel.... READ MORE
Synopsis
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.
Publisher information
- Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
- ISBN: 9781399741705
- Number of pages: 336
- Dimensions: 196 x 128 x 30 mm
- Weight: 234g
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
View allNo benefit
The lives of three Belfast women intertwine - Frankie, a care home kid now living a life of luxury. Miriam, recently widowed and Bronagh a charity worker.... READ MORE
Superb debut author from an actuary who has already mastered the short story form
In my review of Wendy Erskine’s debut short-story collection “Sweet Home” (2018), I tried to describe what I saw as her signature technique as “what is uns... READ MORE
Enthralling read
The Benefactors is a story centered on three young men accused of sexually assaulting a girl Misty at a party in Belfast, and their well-to-do mothers' rea... READ MORE
unnecessarily complicated
I found this book really difficult to engage with and unnecessarily complicated to read due to sudden changes of character perspective which were really ja... READ MORE
Deserving of the praise!
Wendy Erskine’s ‘The Benefactors’ is getting a lot of praise, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s the kind of book that critics will say (probably have said... READ MORE
A richly textured novel which explores class, privilege and consent
Boogie had been only eighteen when their rackety mother left her two daughters with him but proved himself up to the task of raising them both, never disti... READ MORE
Moral Tale
Thank you to Sceptre/Hodder for the proof.
Misty is a teenager drifting through life in Ireland,going on a site called Benefactor, chatting to random men.... READ MORE
A cacophonous rollercoaster
In this multidimensional and heartbreaking novel, Erskine takes us on an emotional journey as three well-to-do mothers are forced to worry for their teenag... READ MORE
Thought provoking
The Benefactors feels less like a traditional novel and more like a carefully constructed snapshot of life, fragmented, subjective, and deeply human.
Th... READ MORE
Longlisted for the Women's Fiction Prize 2026
The Benefactors was already on my radar before it was announced as part of the longlist for the Women's Fiction Prize 2026, but I had heard mixed reviews s... READ MORE