
Podcast: Ep552: Book Club: Let's Talk About 'The Catch,' by Yrsa Daley-Ward
July 25, 2025
Author(s): The New York Times
Podcast: The Book Review
1 / 1Book Club: Let's Talk About 'The Catch,' by Yrsa Daley-Ward
- 1. Book Club: Let's Talk About 'The Catch,' by Yrsa Daley-Ward
About
In this monthâs installment of the Book Review Book Club, weâre discussing âThe Catch,â 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, who were babies when their mother was presumed to have drowned in the Thames. The novel begins decades later, when Clara sees something strange: A woman who looks just like their mother is stealing a watch. Clara believes this is her mother, and wants to welcome her back into her life. Dempsey is less certain, in part because the woman doesnât seem to have aged a day. She believes the woman is a con artist because itâs simply not possible for her to be their mother ⊠right? Whatâs real? Whatâs not? And what does that mean for the lives of these struggling sisters? Daley-Ward unpacks it all in her deliciously slippery novel. On this episode, the Book Club host MJ Franklin talks about âThe Catchâ with fellow Book Review editors Jennifer Harlan and Sadie Stein. Other books mentioned in this weekâs episode: âThe Other Black Girl,â by Zakiya Dalila Harris âThe Haunting of Hill House,â by Shirley Jackson âWish Her Safe at Home,â by Stephen Benatar âErasure,â by Percival Everett âPlayworld,â by Adam Ross âThe House on the Strand,â by Daphne du Maurier âGrief Is the Thing With Feathers,â by Max Porter âThe Furrows,â by Namwali Serpell âDead in Long Beach, California,â by Venita Blackburn âThe Vanishing Half,â by Brit Bennett âDeath Takes Me,â by Cristina Rivera Garza âAudition,â by Katie Kitamura Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Podcast

The New York Times
The world's top authors and critics join host Gilbert Cruz and editors at The New York Times Book Review to talk about the week's top books, what we're reading and what's going on in the literary world. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Listen to this podcast in New York Times Audio, our new iOS app for news subscribers. Download now at nytimes.com/audioapp