The Benefactors
By Wendy Erskine

SHORTLISTED FOR NOVEL OF THE YEAR AT THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDSLONGLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE'The style of Woolf but the heart of Dickens . . . impressive'Sunday Times'A blistering debut . . . vital reading'Spectator'A powerful, moving, compelling, utterly enthralling debut'Jon McGregor, author ofand Reservoir 13'So fresh, so sharp, so wry, so alive'Lucy Caldwell, author ofand These Days'I miss it already . . . What a beautiful, hilarious blast of brilliance'Donal Ryan, author ofand Heart, Be at Peace'A cast of characters so vividly drawn it feels like you've known them all your life'Colin Walsh, author ofand Kala'There's not a sentence I don't believe, or a character I don't feel something for . . . what a joy it is to read'Michael Magee, author ofand Close to HomeFrom the prize-winning author ofand Dance Moveand andand Sweet Home, this is an astounding novel about intimate histories, class and money - and what being a parent means.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,and The Benefactorsand is a daring, multi-voice presentation of modern-day Northern Ireland. It is also very funny.