The Bottle Factory Outing — Beryl Bainbridge

Short-listed for the Booker Prize and named ''one of the greatest novels of all time'' byThe Observer, this riveting novel which was recently adapted on BBC Radio 4 shows Beryl Bainbridge at her darkly comic best.

Freda and Brenda spend their days working in an Italian-run wine-bottling factory. A work outing offers promise for Freda and terror from Brenda; passions run high on that chilly day of freedom, and life after the outing never returns to normal.

Inspired by author Beryl Bainbridge''s own experiences working at a London wine-factory in the 1970s,The Bottle Factory Outingexamines issues of friendship and consent, making the novel timelier than ever. Readers will be dazzled by this offbeat, haunting yet hilariousGuardianfiction prize-winning novel.

''An outrageously funny and horrifying story'' Graham Greene (Observer)