The Bottle Factory Outing

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize and named 'one of the greatest novels of all time' by the Observer, this riveting novel shows Beryl Bainbridge at her darkly comic bestFreda and Brenda are friends spending their days in an Italian-run wine-bottling factory in North London. When a works outing materialises it offers promise for Freda, but terror for Brenda. Unexpected passions run high on the chilly day of liberty and their lives are never the same again. Beryl Bainbridge dazzles readers in this offbeat, haunting yet hilarious novel. 'An outrageously funny and horrifying novel' Graham Greene'Superb... taut in construction, expansive in characterisation, vibrant in atmosphere and profoundly comic' The Times'The masterful restraint of Beryl Bainbridge's sentences reveals an author in complete control of her artistry' Guardian'Two very complex, funny female characters. They need each other although they would never admit it' Maxine Peake