The Benefactors 'So fresh, so sharp, so wry, so alive' Lucy Caldwell

<p><b>SHORTLISTED FOR NOVEL OF THE YEAR AT THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS</b><br><b>LONGLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE</b><br><br>'The style of Woolf but the heart of Dickens . . . impressive'<br><i><b>Sunday Times</b></i><br><br>'A blistering debut . . . vital reading'<br><i><b>Spectator</b></i><br><br>'A powerful, moving, compelling, utterly enthralling debut'<br><b>Jon McGregor, author of <i>Reservoir 13</i></b><br><br>'So fresh, so sharp, so wry, so alive'<br><b>Lucy Caldwell, author of <i>These Days</i></b><br><br>'I miss it already . . . What a beautiful, hilarious blast of brilliance'<br><b>Donal Ryan, author of <i>Heart, Be at Peace</i></b><br><br>'A cast of characters so vividly drawn it feels like you've known them all your life'<br><b>Colin Walsh, author of<i> Kala</i></b><br><br>'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'<br><b>Michael Magee, author of <i>Close to Home</i></b><br><br><b>From the prize-winning author of <i>Dance Move</i> and <i>Sweet Home</i>, this is an astounding novel about intimate histories, class and money - and what being a parent means.</b><br><br>Meet Frankie, Miriam and Bronagh: three very different women from Belfast, but all mothers to eighteen-year-old boys.<br><br>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.<br><br>Brutal, tender and rigorously intelligent,<i> The Benefactors</i> is a daring, multi-voice presentation of modern-day Northern Ireland. It is also very funny.</p>