Book Club: Read ‘The Catch,’ by Yrsa Daley-Ward, with the Book Review

Welcome to the Book Review Book Club! Every month, we select a book to discuss with our readers. Last month, we read “Mrs. Dalloway,” by Virginia Woolf. (You can also go back and listen to our episodes on “The Safekeep,” “Playworld,” “We Do Not Part” and “Orbital.”)

One of the best joys of summer is basking in the sun while getting lost in a book. If you want a particularly mind-bending escape, look no further than “The Catch,” the debut novel by the poet and memoirist Yrsa Daley-Ward.

The book is a psychological thriller that follows semi-estranged twin sisters, Clara and Dempsey. When they were babies, their mother, Serene, disappeared. She was presumed to have drowned in the Thames, and the sisters were adopted by different families. Now, 30 years later, Clara is a successful — if lost and self-destructive — author publishing a new book, while Dempsey, who struggles with severe anxiety, flounders doing clerical work.

The novel begins with the sisters’ birthday. Clara, while shopping to buy herself something nice, sees something strange: A woman who looks just like their mother is stealing a watch. Clara doesn’t believe the woman is merely similar to their mother; she believes this woman is her mother, and wants to welcome her back into her life. Dempsey is less certain, in part because the woman doesn’t seem to have aged a day. She believes the woman is a con artist because it’s simply not possible for her to be their mother … right?

What’s real? What’s not? And what does that mean for the lives of these struggling sisters? Daley-Ward unpacks it all in this deliciously slippery novel.

In July, the Book Review Book Club will read and discuss “The Catch,” by Yrsa Daley-Ward. We’ll be chatting about the book on the Book Review podcast that airs on July 25, and we’d love for you to join the conversation. Share your thoughts about the novel in the comments section of this article by July 17, and we may mention your observations in the episode.

Here’s some related reading to get you started.

Our review of “The Catch”: “It’s not the ‘what happens’ that matters, it’s the how. You can tell Daley-Ward is having fun playing with her language, these characters and our minds. By harnessing both a poet’s heart and attention to language as well as a fresh ear for millennial humor and drama, Daley-Ward has penned a metaphysical experiment on grief, trauma, family and longing that holds all the excitement of a big summer read.” Read the full review, by Danez Smith, here.
Yrsa Daley-Ward’s NPR interview discussing “The Catch”: “My mother passed away a while ago. She passed away in my early 20s, and it was a profound loss. … I thought, God, what would it be like if I was to suddenly encounter her again in some way? You know, what wish fulfillment, right? And what better wish fulfillment can you have than writing a book? So I invented it. What would it be like? And what if she was my age? Would I like her? Would we get on? Would we be friends? So that’s what brought the book to life, that inquiry and that kind of wanting.” Read the full interview here.
Our 2018 profile of Yrsa Daley-Ward, about her poetry career and her memoir, “The Terrible”: “I’m going to unsettle people … I mean nobody knows my story.” Read the full profile, by Lovia Gyarkye, here.