This is a brilliant novel and one that will probably be a bit of a marmite book for readers - the shifting perspectives won't be for everyone and could be frustrating for some readers, but the people who love it will love it. It takes a moment to settle into the novel's shifting perspectives but once you do it's brilliant. Like with her short stories, Wendy Erskine is so skilled at breathing life into her characters and portraying them in complex, nuanced ways. It's a thoughtful exploration of class, community and consent at the hands of an extremely talented writer and for such a serious subject there's lots of wry humour here too.

'The Benefactors' is a highly assured debut novel which offers an absorbing, nuanced and timely exploration of consent. The novel follows the perspectives of Frankie, Bronagh and Miriam, the mothers of three teenage boys who have been accused of sexual assault - as well as of Misty, their victim and her family.

Everything about this incident is complex: Misty's initial sexual encounters with these boys were consensual but then became non-consensual, even though she didn't say "no"; she had allegedly sold drugs to the boys; and, a skilled make-up artist, she has fake bruises when she goes to the police. And while the boys come from respectable families (though with divergent backgrounds and personalities), other factors make Misty less likely to be believed, in particular her 'Benefactors' account (a fictionalised site in which women offer different - generally sexual - online services to paying male customers).

The use of the mothers' perspectives is especially effective - all three want to protect their sons but approach this incident from different angles: Frankie grew up in children's homes but now lives a live of luxury after marrying a wealthy widower; Miriam has recently lost her husband in a car accident and is trying to make sense of the fact that her husband had a young woman in the car with him at the time; and, perhaps most interestingly, Bronagh runs a high-profile charity supporting look-after young people so has to juggle her public support for teenagers like Misty with her desire to exonerate her son.

Erskine uses close third-person perspective to describe different events from the perspectives of the characters most closely connected to this case, but intersperses this with short first-person narratives from other characters - some which relate directly to the main plot (for instance, the police officer who had to examine Misty, or one of Misty's 'Benefactors') and some which are more oblique but which relate to the novel's themes. This adds further depth to this novel which is about much more than sex and consent, as it also explores family, class and money.

I thought this was an outstanding novel which avoids offering easy answers to difficult questions. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

I loved this book! Really loved weaving between different POVs. Also perfectly scratched The Bee Sting itch for me!

Initially I found it slightly difficult to get into but once I did, I was hooked. The perspectives of the mothers/family members made this a very interesting read as it does not really focus a lot of the men involved but rather the women. The only one criticism that I have is how the novel was structured where random people kept popping in with opinions and experiences but I think that this just may be the NetGalley ARC version. Overall, I really enjoyed it and the slow burn was worth it.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

I found this book really difficult to engage with and unnecessarily complicated to read due to sudden changes of character perspective which were really jarring and disjointed.
Unfortunately in the end I didn't care about anyone in the book and it all felt like too much effort for little reward and I'm afraid that, unusually, I didn't finish the book.
Thank you to netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an advance copy of this book.

Wendy Erskine’s The Benefactors follows four families in the aftermath of an alleged sexual assault involving three boys and a girl, all in their late teens, in modern-day Belfast. Whilst a lot of the story is seen through the eyes of the mothers of the three boys (three very different women who will do everything in their power to protect their sons), and although we also get a fair amount of the girl’s perspective on the principal events, at heart this truly is a polyphonic novel in its purest form.

Interspersed with the narratives centred around the ten or so main characters - all told in the third person - there are approximately 50 further short chapters written in the first person that combine to offer a broader depiction of the context in which these main events take place, thereby presenting us with a rich, fantastically observed tapestry of contemporary Belfast. Though initially these short chapters might seem slightly jarring (for it’s not clear how, if at all, they fit into the main storyline nor who each of them is being narrated by) I was soon able to stop trying to scour them for clues and instead simply enjoy them almost as pieces of flash fiction or simply little vignettes of city life, often full of the striking images and witty lines that are characteristic of Erskine’s prose.

There is something about the short story form (in which the author largely made her name) that is undeniably present in this novel, and yet the way in which all the different components, perspectives and characters intertwine to form a skilfully constructed whole, plainly suggests the work of an accomplished novelist. Combined with her brilliant characterization, razor-sharp eye for everyday detail, and deft, original treatment of a number of important subjects (motherhood, the class divide, sexual violence, consent), this makes for a highly recommended read which will cement Erskine’s reputation as one of the most interesting voices in Irish fiction today.

The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine will deservedly be the book everyone is talking about when it comes out on 19th June. It's Erskine's first novel but she's the author of two brilliant short story collections, Sweet Home and Dance Move, and this skill as a short story weiter really shines through in this novel which is voiced by a kaleidoscope of characters narrating the assault of a vulnerable girl by the golden boys in their community in Northern Ireland.

It is reminiscent of Donal Ryan or Sheila Armstrong in this chorus of voices, which I think are so suited to great short story writers, but this novel is slightly different in that the book meanders back and forth between different characters, throwing new ones into the mix unexpectedly.

This book deals with a lot of really heavy topics really well, but it also injects such humour, and the specificity of that humour and the particular accents and turns of phrases really grounds the book and the characters in reality so well.

It's a really enjoyable book to read given all the different voices, but a heartbreaking one too. A book about assault is always going to be grim, but it thankfully minimizes the details of that event to just one chapter, but delves into the shockwaves it has on the community in really interesting ways. Even when I wanted to scream at some of the characters they didn't stop being compelling - the mothers of the three young men in particular - and I just think that Erskine has a particular incisiveness, talent, and ear for voice that is so impressive.

I was excited to read Wendy Erskine’s debut novel because I love her short story collections and the premise of the Benefactors sounded *so* intriguing. It didn't disappoint; this novel carries over the mastery of prose, dry sense of humour, and nuance of character that is ever-present in Erskine’s short fiction. An absolute banger of a novel and one I will definitely be recommending.

I hate to say it but I didn't enjoy this book. It felt really disjointed as vignettes of the characters are spliced into the mnarrative with no context or warning and there were a lot of "stereotypes" which made the characters feel not quite real. At the start we are introduced to Misty, a young woman who does cam work for "benefactors", her primary client being an American southern ( fried) good ole boy. Misty goes to a party and alleges she has been sexually assaulted by three young men. The setting is Belfast and the three mothers of the boys, despite being from different social classes, use everything in their power to protect their sons and so battle begins with Misty, who also has strong parents to champion her.

A Greek chorus of contemporary Northern Irish motherhood that reminded me of Megan Abbott’s writing in how it dissects relationships and class structures. Given that I read it after watching Jack Thorne’s drama Adolescence on Netflix, I also found it incredibly timely in the context of UK discussions around boys and the parenting of boys. I loved how the style afforded us insights into multiple perspectives, including perspectives difficult for me to share, like Frankie’s. I’m planning to seek out Erskine’s earlier short story collections now!

In The Benefactors, the lives of three very different women from Belfast are drawn together as their teenage sons are accused of sexual assault. Through their perspectives and the perspective of the victim, and a series of vignettes around characters on the peripheries, we see the lengths family will go to to protect, and seek justice for, their own.

Wendy Erskine is as always a razor sharp writer, capturing situations in an unflinching manner. Here she takes a dark event and draws us in by revealing the backstories of the different characters, giving a sense of humanity to all involved, and through the multiple perspectives showing us the effects not only on the victim and perpetrators but also on all those around them. The many perspectives and voices weighing in throughout this novel seem to reflect this sense of the many viewpoints on a given situation; those looking on knowingly from the inside, those judging rashly from the outside.

As the short alternating chapters of the story unfold, the pieces of the puzzle slowly come together. The build up is slow, revealing to us where the characters are coming from in the choices they end up making. The characters are flawed, many of them unlikable, but as the story develops we understand them better. Miriam was a standout character for me, who I cared for and whose back story I felt invested in. Misty’s father Boogie was another character whose story I really enjoyed following. And yet there is a coolness, an aloofness to the overall tone of the book, offering some distance as we observe the events around the situation, and not providing us with all the answers. At the heart of this story is a nuanced exploration of the relationship between children and their parents, and a look at class divides. Excellent writing as always, and a unique structural approach to telling the story.

The benefactors follows - amongst many other characters - the three mothers of a group of boys who have been involved in a sexual assault, and chronicles the subtle ways in which the assault affects their lives and the way they view their sons. Subtle is key here, this is much more a novel of 'the things left unsaid', than a confronting or highly emotive story, and is probably much more accurate in capturing the nuances of a parents genuine reaction to finding out their child may have committed a sexual assault. I found it fascinating and quite unexpectedly gentle and tender in places, however I also found it incredibly hard to track whose point of view I was reading from as it changed throughout the novel, particularly with the first person narratives where it became very difficult to work out who was talking until the end of their 'chapter'.

Wow, what a book. Love the look at society and social class within the plot. A story and plot that captures your attention and gets your attention.
Everyone will gain something from this book. A most read.

I don’t like to mark this as low stars as there is great potential for a really great story but I struggled with how the plot and characters jumped about, I read this as an e-Arc on NetGalley and maybe it’s the format of the e-arc and perhaps I’m hard copy the character change maybe more distinguishable. We essentially follow the story of Misty who has been sexually assaulted by 3 boys at a party, we also read the perspective of the boys’ mothers however scattered in between are these random pieces of first person narrative which I found so confusing and I couldn’t work out who was speaking. If the story had just stuck to Misty and the mothers it could have been great. I’m also baffled by the title of the book - The Benefactors is essentially “Only Fans” but has very little to do with the plot. If you are going to read this one then read in hard copy!

I liked the plot, theme and original concept of the book but the writing felt too chaotic and hard to follow. Characters switch in a paragraph with no warning and it's often discombobulating to read. There's also a lot of sections that felt too bigged down with minor details.. The book felt too disordered in part and I'd keep having to switch where I was and try to work out who was narrating.

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. Their sons sexually assault a young girl and the crime is attempted to be brushed under the carpet.

There is enough here for a powerful read, but sadly this isn’t it. The first person narrative has been done to death but for my money only Anne Enright can do it with any verve or wit. It’s pitched as a state of the nation novel, but the narrative isn’t clear enough to follow. The writing is too opaque, figurative to actually inform the reader what is going on.

I would also draw attention to the characterisation in the novel. The women - although with ulterior motives - are seen as cold, driven, unhappy. The only real male character in the novel is Boogie (a taxi driver, the mother of Misty, the girl who is sexually assaulted). His depiction is pure poverty porn. Plus Misty does camwork as a sideline and the concept of misogyny, with regard to sex work and male violence is muddied. Misty’s main client is an American. And although we could all throw shade at America, his depiction is pure Southern fried cliche.

It’s a novel of caricature, obscurity and coldness. It’s published by Hodder And Stoughton on June 19th and I thank them for a preview copy. #thebenefactors.

I’ve been a big fan of Wendy Erskine’s short stories and wondered how her talent for creating vivid characters and sharp scenarios would play out in a longer form. Brilliantly, is the short answer.
The Benefactors is a cacophony of voices and characters. It takes a while to work out who is who and how they fit together, but it emerges that these lives are brought together by an 'incident', when three boys who sexually assault Misty, who is from a very different background to them.
Structural and gender inequality is threaded through the stories that emerge, to lesser or larger degrees, but each of Erskine’s characters is brought to life with empathy. It’s a phenomenal read. I’m not mad keen on the cover, but it’s a fantastic portrayal of real lives, legitimised abuse (hello Only F*ns) and human mistakes. I now want to read it all over again. All the stars.

I found this a hard read, not because of the subject matter but because of the way it seems to jump around with no context about where we are or who is there. It's very disjointed and although I enjoyed the writing I felt that it was hard going for most of the time and every time I was involved in what was happening, there was a jump to someone else, another place or whatever. That might just be the way I read, as I maybe read too fast and should slow down, but it seemed difficult to follow for much of the time.

Wendy Erskine’s stories of Belfast bring the reader to places and situations off the beaten track, using vivid and compelling writing.

As a person who favours the short story over the novel, I felt, as in the case of Louise Kennedy, also, that the energy required to write a novel would have been better spent on short stories.

Still, in both cases, the novel attracts more readers and more attention.

ButErskine’s writing is as skilful as ever and many of the characters, especially Misty, are fascinating to follow.

Plotwise, the novel lays out, unhurriedly, the foundations for a sexual assault by three relatively well-off young men on a less-privileged young woman.

Despite the major talent on display, though, the number of characters makes it hard to keep track at times. And the mysterious, short first person interludes by unidentified only compounds this problem.

But the pace intensifies as the book progresses and it’s a very good read overall.

What a brilliant read!
I have read and really liked some of this authors short stories but this is next level. The writing , throughout , is mesmerising and I genuinely could not put this one down. An original take on a story , we know so well after a young woman is sexually assaulted by several of young men at a party.
Despite the subject matter this book is often funny, always razor sharp and genuinely moving. It does demand your attention, there a cast of characters and the narrative switches between them frequently ( I am not sure if it was just the arc that had no demarcation between the narrative perspective or if this is the the style of the book?) but while it did not bother me, it may frustrate some readers.

I loved this- the class divide, the wealth divide, the way the characters parented. The characters were so real. The pacing, the plot, the setting, the dialogue, all so perfectly captured.

I really hope Erskine is already writing her next book, I cannot wait to read it.

4.5-5 stars.