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. 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 hitting the headlines in the worst possible way. In the end Ailsa makes a break for Edinburgh, where she finds a job and a bed with Shane, a shady dealer in picture-rights. With him she lets go of her inhibitions, but can she let go of her past? A rollercoaster family drama described as "harsh, gritty yet lyrical", 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.