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The Benefactors
The Benefactors: 'So fresh, so sharp, so wry, so alive' Lucy Caldwell | Wendy Erskine
3 posts | 2 read | 7 to read
'Brims with humanity . . . I adored it' Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days 'A powerful, moving, compelling, utterly enthralling debut' Jon McGregor, author of Reservoir 13 'Perfectly pitched, surefooted, and charged with feeling' Colin Barrett, author of Wild Houses In The Benefactors we meet Frankie, Miriam and Bronagh - very different women but all mothers to 18-year-old boys. 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, loves the celebrity and prestige this brings her. They do not know each other yet, but when their sons are accused of sexually assaulting Misty Johnston, whose family lacks the wealth and social-standing of their own, they'll leverage all the power of their position to protect their children. 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. Brutal, tender and rigorously intelligent, The Benefactors is a daring, polyphonic presentation of modern-day Northern Ireland. It is also very funny.
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review
Cathythoughts
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Pickpick

A brilliant book about life and parenting, set in Belfast. We meet Misty , the mc, a teenager who wants to be a makeup artist. Misty is attacked and traumatised. The characters are many and drawn with humanity. As one review says ‘ Erskine‘s great gift is for character, all are complicatedly flawed and empathetically rendered‘. I couldn‘t agree more. A gripping book to read. I couldn‘t put it down. It‘s a debut and I look forward to more from her

LeahBergen Oh, definitely stacking! 👍 3w
Cathythoughts @LeahBergen I hope you will like it as much as I did. I loved it. Some unforgettable characters 👍🏻❤️ 3w
Lesliereadsalot Couldn‘t put it down? I‘m in! 3w
See All 14 Comments
Cathythoughts @Lesliereadsalot Couldn‘t put it down 👍🏻😁 3w
TrishB Great review 👍🏻 3w
Cathythoughts @TrishB Thanks Trish x 3w
Tamra Stacked! 😄 3w
Cathythoughts @Tamra As always, I look forward to your thoughts x 3w
EverydayImReading @Cathythoughts Wonderful review and recommendation. Thanks Cathy ❤️ 3w
Cathythoughts @EverydayImReading I think you‘d really like it x 3w
andrew61 I heard her on 'take four books' and really liked the sound of it. Great review. 3w
Cathythoughts @andrew61 I like the way she put this book together, everyone is heard from. She does an excellent job. 3w
CarolynM Great review. Sounds like a tough subject, but I‘m stacking anyway😊 3w
Cathythoughts @CarolynM It is a tough subject, but it‘s really well done , and there‘s humour. It‘s very readable. 👍🏻❤️ 3w
63 likes5 stack adds14 comments
review
squirrelbrain
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Pickpick

I wanted to love this a lot more than I did. A few too many issues make it a soft pick.

Misty is a cam-girl who is sexually assaulted at a house party by three of her supposed friends. The boys‘ mothers close ranks to protect their sons, while Misty has her sort-of stepfather to back her up.

The cam-girl thing could have been really powerful but it wasn‘t. The three mothers were all awful, without a redeeming feature between them. ⬇️

squirrelbrain My biggest issue though was all the POV changes and the sub-plots / vignettes of other local people / bit-part players. Too distracting and I hope it‘s just my digital ARC but there wasn‘t any indication of the change of POV - not even a paragraph break. One sentence ran into another and you had to figure it out for yourself. Sounds like I hated it 😬 but I didn‘t - just needed a bit of tightening up in places. And a better layout in print. 🤞 3mo
BarbaraBB Great review though 3mo
sarahbarnes Great review. And cover - I can see why you were drawn to read it. 3mo
64 likes3 comments
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jhod
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My nominations for #camplitsy25! Gunk I don't think comes out in the US until July but sneaking it in anyway 😁 @BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain @Megabooks

Ruthiella The nominations are always worth making because they will edge those titles towards everyone‘s radar. 👍 5mo
jhod @Ruthiella very wise! 5mo
Caroline2 Oh yay!!! 🥳 great nominations! 👏 5mo
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Megabooks I agree with @Ruthiella I just love getting the longlist! These nominations guide a lot of my reading over the second half of the year. So glad you're joining us again! 5mo
squirrelbrain I wonder where you got the idea to nominate Pretty Pieces?! 🤔🤪 @Caroline2 5mo
jhod @squirrelbrain was on my tbr anyway so very happy to oblige @Caroline2 😁 5mo
55 likes1 stack add6 comments