The Benefactors
Wendy Erskine

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Published: 2025

Longlisted for the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction

From the prize-winning author of Dance Move and 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 18-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, polyphonic presentation of modern-day Northern Ireland. It is also very funny.

Leafy plant illustration

The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine is told by many voices, but has at its core three very different women from Belfast, all of whom are mothers to 18-year old boys. A real page-turner, this novel has an original style that sets it apart.

Julia Gillard

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