179 pp. 8vo. "Freda had organized a day into the country for the Italian workers of the Bottle Factory. There would be a picnic in the park, a visit to a Stately Home; she would stroll hand in hand with Vittorio through the English landscape. It was to be idyllic. But the Outing turned into a day of tragedy and Freda, in a white wedding dress, went on a long journey by land and sea." "'An outrageously funny and horrifying story' Graham Greene (Observer) 'After turning the final page of The Bottle Factory Outing, one can only gasp, and grope for the right word...Such an atmosphere of impending doom has not been created since Brighton Rock - except that Beryl Bainbridge is mercilessly comic instead of being mercilessly vicious. Specialising in successive denouements, and with her gift for collecting the most amazing detail, she is so in control of her marvellous little story that one hangs on her words from first to last. What originality, what pleasure.' Ronald Blythe (Sunday Times)"
