The Catch: A Novel

TORDA'S FALL 2025 TEACHING SITE

The Catch: A Novel

12/17/2025

Your Final Post for one of our readings is another group post. In groups of three, discuss what you thought of the book, the twistiness of it, the ending(s), the characters, etc. Consider it as genre (literary fiction). As a group, write a review of the novel. This isn't a thumbs up/thumbs down kind of review. Imagine that this is a movie review you might read in The New Yorker or The New York Times. Channel your inner Pauline Kael and go to town.

4 Comments

Nina and Anna

12/17/2025 02:38:55 pm

The Catch: A Novel by Yrsa Daley-Ward was the definition of a head trip. The lives of bizarre twin sisters Clara and Dempsey are blown open when Clara believes she sees their supposed deceased biological mother - and she appears to be the same age as the twins. The events following the sighting unfold alarmingly similarly to Clara’s hit novel, Evidence, as the twins try to decipher what, and who, is real.

The Catch is a must-read for anyone who is willing to take on the challenge of throwing themselves into a complex puzzle of an unnerving and provocative story. Daley-Ward’s writing makes you question details of the twins’ lives as the narration and point-of-view shifts quickly through the twins and chapters of Evidence. Who is real? What is real? Did some of these characters ever really exist?

Beyond shifting plot lines and realities, Daley-Ward’s writing allows readers to find details and clues into what and who the characters may be. Wordplay and poetry-adjacent craft creates a compelling world that draws the reader into the absurd and sometimes disturbed minds of Clara and Dempsey.

Unreliable narration, ever-present metaphor, and the tactical theme of generational trauma create a unique novel that will leave you questioning the role of the mind and familial bonds in overcoming or falling into one’s “destiny.” The Catch is truly one of those books that when you finish it, you’ll want to re-read it to dive back into the minds of the characters and pull them apart further.

12/17/2025 02:39:21 pm

I don't think The Catch is for everyone. The characters of both Clara and Dempsey are, at least initially, maddeningly unlikeable. And the premise of the novel, that these women, twin sisters, are encountering their mother at the exact age they currently are, and, as it turns out, the exact age their mother was when she died only months after their own birth, causes a reader to wonder what is what and what is not at every turn. And that is not the reading experience for everyone. There are, for sure, elements that will feel familiar to readers of both mysteries and science fiction--and even mysterious science fiction--is the mother real? Are the twins actually twins or just one dissociating character trying to compartmentalize all the various traumas in her life? But it at no point in the novel, right up to the end(s) of the book, a reader is always wondering and guessing at what is actually going on. Not all readers can or want to spend time with that kind of a text. But I am one of those readers, and so I was really transfixed by the novel. I don't know that I would say I loved it or liked it--I wouldn't read or reread it because it's kind of exhausting all the way around. But, like I said, I was transfixed. I couldn't stop reading. These muddled, difficult, hurt people and the way that encounter and respond to each other is mesmerizingj--the book casts a bit of a magical spell as it proceeds with its story, right through to it's mysterious, mystical, and, I would say, hopeful end. There are lots of ways to read this book--about motherhood and sisterhood and generational trauma and what women endure in the world. And you have the chance to thikn about them because the story sticks with you--and its twisty, dificult plot and characters. If you are up for that challenge, this is a great read from a young and promising writer . Can't wait to see what she does next.

Glen - Ally - Paul

12/17/2025 02:40:32 pm

Going into this book, it was evident that we had two girls, twins, Clara and Dempsey, who grew up apart from one another, leading them to have very different lives, outlooks, and personalities. Their mother disappeared from their lives, which led them to this point, and it affected them both in different ways. Her body was found, and they had roughly accepted that, until one of them SEES her out and about while shopping. We get this woman who has their mother’s name, looks like her, and at times even acts like her. We have doubts that she is a con woman, even though Clara is so hellbent on her being the mother most of the time. Dempsey denies it, as she always resists her trauma, and Clara wants it to be her so badly, as she has never been able to let go of her trauma. The realization that this woman is not their mom brings the two twins together. They begin to bond over their trauma.

Wanting, longing, letting ghosts live through you, identity through loss, ALL these things come to mind when thinking of this book. Not to mention the aspect of mothers living vicariously through their daughters and daughters carrying on the weight and loss of their mothers. The things we think and do because of what or who we have lost. Where the mind goes and what it creates tells us, makes us feel. A beautiful representation of the chaos and beauty of loss, of living, and how the people and things that come into our lives never truly leave, even when we think they are gone.

I.S., Ashley

12/17/2025 02:43:15 pm

The Catch: A Novel brilliantly explores generational trauma through a topsy-turvy timeline of events. Ultimately, even if Serene tried to do anything to change her fate, the twins were destined to be born and with that, were destined for a life where their mother almost haunted them. Even within the twins’ relationship, as they finally took the steps to mend their relationships, they became closer and closer together until they became one entity in the river. This could be a result of each twin adopting the qualities she needed that the other one possessed—Clara needed Dempsey’s groundedness while Dempsey needed Clara’s confidence. Serene spent her life overly confident to the point of nearly arrogance and self-destruction, which is something present in Clara’s character too. Everything that happened was truly destiny, whether it be because of the twins’ DNA, their predisposition, or genuine fate.

While it could be debated if the character development was earned enough at the end, the idea of destiny was strong. The story was written into existence, whether that be through Clara’s book or Serene’s, and was the cause for everything that happened. It was as if no matter what the twins did, there was already a set of endings waiting for them. The endings, and sentiments, stylized with a strikethrough really interested us because they were both the most believable and the quickest to be written off; it is almost that acknowledging the true reality of the situation, no matter how topsy turvy it is, was not an option—maybe because it was designed to happen all along.

Similar to other pieces of literary fiction, there was no exact meaning or lesson that was meant to be derived from the narrative. It explores themes such as trauma, mental health, and motherhood, but readers are allowed to develop their own interpretation of the text. Even though we aligned in a lot of areas during our discussion about the standout points of this novel, these may not be what stuck with everybody else; that, to us, is the power of literary fiction.

The Catch: A Novel

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