A mordant, cautionary tale about a working-class woman who's hemmed in on all sides by ?the most unfairly neglected? of all Scottish writers (Alasdair Gray).

At home, Betty's husband Alan is a depressed alcoholic, while her smart-mouthed kids are driving her crazy. Maybe an affair with her and Alan's attractive friend Brendan will spice things up? No such luck?he proves to be just as much of a disappointment as everything else in her life. Even at work she can't catch a break: her decrepit boss, Mr. Robson, has roving hands and a magnum opus he wants her help typing up after hours . . . Is it any wonder that Betty's hitting the bottle now too?

Not since Muriel Spark has there been a Scottish writer so attuned to the black humor and surreal potential of the banalities and frustrations of ordinary existence. A Working Mother is a ?sly, hilarious tale about one woman's search for meaning? (Kirkus) in a miserable, messy world.

Agnes Owens (1926?2014) married twice, brought up seven children and variously worked as a typist, cleaner, and factory worker. It wasn't until she attended an evening creative writing course when she was in her fifties that she wrote her first novel, Gentlemen of the West, published in 1984 to widespread critical acclaim. She went on to publish a further five novellas as well as three short-story collections.