The Bottle Factory Outing by Beryl Bainbridge

This is a strange and vivid account of two young women who work in a bottle factory in the nineteen-sixties, inspired by Bainbridge's stint at a similar plant. Freda is wild, flirtatious and imaginative while Brenda is shy and easily-led by her bossy friend. They are both carried away by the handsome Italians at the factory who think that they are very forward but they don't realise this. There is certainly a big contrast between the old-world Italians and the 'fast' English women here.

I didn't go on with this because I am a nineteenth-century person and I found Bainbridge's staccato style rather dry, although it is certainly evocative. Also, I didn't like any of the characters so I didn't really care what happened to them. Having said that, I am enjoying The Birthday Boys by the same author much more.

I received this from net Galley in return for an honest review.