Fishnet

Written by Kirstin Innes

Narrated by Rebecca Hamilton

A “thoughtful, bruising, poignant, and poetic” (Ian Rankin) debut in which a woman’s search for her missing sister leads her into the world of contemporary sex work.

Rona Leonard was only twenty-years-old when she walked out of her sister Fiona’s flat and disappeared.

Six years later—worn down by a tedious job, childcare, and an aching absence in her life—Fiona’s mundane existence is blown apart by the revelation that Rona had been working as a prostitute before she vanished. Driven to discover the truth, Fiona embarks on an obsessive quest to investigate the sex industry that claimed her sister. However, as she is drawn into this complex world, Fiona finds herself seduced by the power it offers women in a society determined to see them only as victims.

In bold, unflinching prose, Fishnet offers a clear-eyed look at the lives of sex workers, questioning our perception of contemporary femininity and challenging assumptions about power, vulnerability, and choice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Oct 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781508297567

Kirstin Innes

Kirstin Innes is an award-winning writer, journalist and arts worker living in the west of Scotland. She founded the Glasgow literary salon Words Per Minute, and has had short stories published in a number of anthologies and commissioned by BBC Radio 4. Kirstin has won the Allen Wright Award for Excellence in Arts Journalism twice.

Reviews for Fishnet

[brookiexlicious · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book, like its subject matter, wasn’t shy about describing its characters or sexual acts. Fiona was a fully fleshed out character, as well as supporting ones like her family and the escorts. We not only understand her history between her and Rona, but we feel her desperation and hope in the search for Rona. There is a bit of time jumping between chapters that did get confusing, and some actual Scottish dialogue that I did have to take the time to sound out to understand. I felt that the author did a good job in trying to eliminate the stereotype that all sex workers are drug users or have had traumatic childhoods.

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I like noir, the grittier the better and with this book I got that in spades. Fiona's sister Rona disappeared from her life, devastating her family who did all they could to find her. Six years after her disappearance, Fiona ends up in the Scottish town she disappeared from and this time, without her parents, she gets more information from her sister's old flatmate, who tells her that she kicked Rona out for working as a prostitute and bringing clients back to the flat. This information sends Fiona into turmoil, she was already not that much fun to be around, but now she alienates her last friends. She is also given a new avenue to search for her sister, a search which consumes her. This novelreminded me of both The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh and Garnethill by Denise Mina. There's a depth to the characters that isn't always present in noir, where the story often takes precedence over character development. Fiona is both off-putting and wholly sympathetic, as she works through her complicated emotions for her sister. The novel also follows Rona to a lesser degree, and while this novel has an agenda (as made clear in the author's afterword), it doesn't overwhelm the story. Innes isn't preaching, just writing about an issue she cares about and which I knew very little about. Fishnet is an outstanding Scottish noir and I'm glad to have discovered this author.

[philipkinsella · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fiona's sister goes missing and she finds out she has become involved in the world of prostitution. The book is about her engagement with this hidden world and its strange allure, as she tries to track down her sister.This book gives an insight into this world, the various reasons why people enter it, that the women are not victims, that attempts to rescue them may be misguided.The content seems psychologically convincing and the story is gripping.