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Also in paperback ISBN-13: 978-1781768624 |
She’s running as fast as she can, but the past is catching up.
Ailsa has just left school and should be living it up on a summer trip, but her plans are scuppered by her needy and secretive mother Lorraine. In desperation she takes up with local fishmonger Ian. He’s good for her soul and her sex-life, but their future is blighted by the shadow of Ailsa’s absent father Tom, an art-teacher who left home after making the papers in the worst possible way. Ian eventually blots his copy book and Lorraine is implicated in his treachery. Ailsa takes off for Edinburgh where Shane, a picture rights dealer with more than a touch of the night, is happy to provide a job and a bed. With him Ailsa lets go of her inhibitions, but can she let go of her past?
A Kettle of Fish moves from the East coast of Fife to the art galleries of Edinburgh, where Ailsa finds herself fishing for clues about Tom.
Set in Scotland, this coming of age story follows the story of Ailsa, a teen living in Fife with her mum, as she enters a new stage in her journey to adulthood.
Just as she is exploring relationships she discovers something devastating about her absent father, Tom. A secret that has been kept from her and one she needs to know more about. She cannot ask her mother, Lorraine, who is not in good health and quite dependent on Ailsa. She must discover the truth about her father on her own.
Ailsa goes to Edinburgh and meets with an older man, Shane, who offers her employment and preys on her youth and naivety. Whilst working for Shane a chance meeting with a woman from her father's past, leads Ailsa on a trail to find the answers to her questions.
I enjoyed following Ailsa's journey into Independence and adulthood. After a fairly quiet and slow start the story began to pick up pace and become very interesting once Ailsa met a woman from Tom's past. I thought I had the answers to her father's past and enjoyed the twists that brought the story to a close.
Although this is a story about a girl in her late teens and I do not read YA, I really enjoyed this novel.It would appeal to an adult reader as there are some complex adult issues raised. I am not sure it is suitable for young YA readers as there are sex scenes in the novel.
9 out of 10 for me! I loved it!
Thank you to the author for a review copy. This did not influence my review in any way.
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