Our book group choice for November 2015 is The Bottle Factory Outing by Beryl Bainbridge. Freda and Brenda spend their days working in an Italian-run wine- bottling factory.
The Bottle Factory Outing is a darkly comic novel by Beryl Bainbridge, set in 1970s London. The story follows two working-class women, Brenda and Freda, who work in a bottle factory and share a rundown room in the city.
Brenda is a shy and passive thirty-three-year-old brunette, recently run away to the city to escape an abusive husband. Freda, meanwhile, is a rebellious twenty-six-year-old blonde with big dreams and a penchant for bossing people around.
When the factory organizes a day trip to a stately home, Freda is determined to make the most of it. She plans a lavish picnic, complete with wine and cheese, and even invites her boyfriend, the factory owner’s son, along.
Brenda, on the other hand, is less enthusiastic about the outing. She’s worried about being the only single woman on the trip, and she’s not sure she can handle Freda’s constant drinking and partying.
The day of the outing gets off to a bad start when the van that’s supposed to take them to the stately home breaks down. The workers are forced to walk to the castle, and by the time they arrive, they’re all exhausted and irritable.
The picnic is a disaster. The wine is warm, the cheese is moldy, and the workers are all too drunk to enjoy themselves. Freda starts a fight with her boyfriend, and Brenda ends up spending the day alone, wandering around the castle grounds.
In the evening, the workers gather for a party in the factory attic. The party quickly descends into chaos, as the workers drink, dance, and fight. Brenda tries to leave, but she’s trapped in the attic with the other workers.
The Bottle Factory Outing is a dark and disturbing novel, but it’s also funny and poignant. Bainbridge’s writing is sharp and witty, and she captures the lives of working-class women in 1970s London with great authenticity.
The novel explores themes of friendship, loss, and the dark side of human nature. It’s a challenging read, but it’s also a rewarding one.
The novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1974, and it won the Guardian Fiction Prize. It has been praised by critics for its dark humor, its complex characters, and its unflinching portrayal of the human condition.
Here are some additional details about the novel:
- The novel is set in a small Italian-run wine bottling factory in London in the early 1970s.
- The two main characters are Brenda and Freda, who are unlikely friends. Brenda is a shy, passive thirty-three-year-old brunette who recently ran away to the city to escape an abusive husband. Freda, meanwhile, is a rebellious twenty-six-year-old blonde with big dreams and a penchant for bossing people around.
- The novel follows the two women on a day trip to a stately home, which quickly goes wrong. The van breaks down, the stately home is rundown and deserted, and the African safari that was promised has been cancelled. The workers are left to fend for themselves, and they soon start to get restless.
- In the midst of the chaos, one of the workers, a young man named Billy, is found dead. The cause of death is never revealed, but it is clear that something dark and sinister has taken place.
- The rest of the day is a blur. The workers are all traumatized by what has happened, and they eventually make their way back to the factory. The outing has been a disaster, but it has also brought the workers closer together. They have all shared a terrible experience, and they are now bound by a common bond.
- The novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1974, and it won the Guardian Fiction Prize. It has been praised by critics for its dark humor, its complex characters, and its unflinching portrayal of the human condition.
Discussion Questions for The Bottle Factory Outing
- Go forward one year. What kind of a life do you see Brenda leading?
- Discuss the kind of relationship that Brenda and Freda have.
- Discuss the significance of Freda’s role in making changes in the working conditions at the factory.
- Imagine yourself in Rossi’s shoes. How do you think he justifies his behavior with the women at the factory?
- Discuss the significance of Freda’s obsession with Vittorio.
- What is Brenda’s motivation at the end of the story, after Freda’s death?
- Discuss the relationship that Freda has with the men at work. Then, discuss the relationship that Freda thinks she has with the men.