This month on The Allender Calendar I chat to the Northern Irish writer Wendy Erskine about her 2025 novel The Benefactors.

The novel's central incident is the sexual assault of a teenage girl, Misty, at a party. The novel follows Misty, the boys involved in the assault, and their families – and also expands out to include countless other voices, some of whom are linked to the story and some who aren't. This polyphonic approach both deepens our understanding of the central characters and captures how gossip spreads through the community.

The Benefactors is Wendy's first novel. She has previously published two outstanding collections of short stories: Sweet Home (2018) and Dance Move (2022).

Wendy also guested on Your Own Personal Beatles back in 2021:

https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/wendy-erskines-personal-beatles/id1523996711?i=1000542363739

If you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee here:

https://buymeacoffee.com/robinallender

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