Wendy Erskine - The Benefactors

A Book Club Author Event

We are delighted to be joined by virtuoso short story writer of collections such as Sweet Home for this special event to discuss her astounding novel, The Benefactors - a blazingly funny and astute portrait of modern-day Northern Ireland that deftly mines issues of class, money and parenthood.

If you are member of a book club, why not come along en masse for an in-depth discussion about the book with the author in person!

In partnership with Red Lion Books' Appetite Book Club.

This event will include an audience Q&A and after the event there will be an opportunity to get your book signed.

All are welcome to attend (you don’t have to belong to a book club), but please note as this is a Book Club event there is an assumption that the audience has read the book and this event may include spoilers for the book.

Tickets: £8 event only

or

£16 includes paperback copy of The Benefactors - available if booked via Red Lion Books, here's the link: https://redlionbooks.co.uk/product/book-club-event-with-author-wendy-erskine-discussing-the-benefactors/

Waterstones Irish Book of the Year 2025
Longlisted for the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction
An Observer Best Debut Novel 2025
Longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize

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.

Colchester Arts Center has step-free access - find out more about accessibility at the venue here: https://colchesterartscentre.com/accessibility/.

Photo of Wendy Erskine © Khara Pringle

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Colchester Arts Centre, Church Street, Colchester, United Kingdom

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