The Catch

Award-winning author, Yrsa Daley-Ward's stylishly intriguing and experimental debut novel exploring family, fate and female fantasies.

'Totally original, entirely compelling and astonishingly well crafted, The Catch solidifies Yrsa Daley-Ward as one of Britain's best and boldest voices. A dark and lyrical debut that's well worth the wait.' – Yomi Adegoke, author of Slay in Your Lane and The List

'A fantastic, shimmering work. Yrsa Daley-Ward's rich exploration of Black womanhood and familial complexities is a must read.' – Irenosen Okojie

'From one of my favourite living writers, The Catch is a slippery shape-shifting delight. Yrsa's novel is fluorescently dark and winding; brilliant in its investigation of refractions and meaning.' – Eloghosa Osunde, author of VAGABONDS!

'Yrsa's work is like holding the truth in your hands. A glorious living thing.' – Florence Welch

A darkly whimsical debut about women daring to live and create with impunity.

Twin sisters Clara and Dempsey have always struggled to relate, their familial bond severed after their mother vanished into the Thames. In adulthood, they are content to be all but estranged, until Clara sees a woman who looks exactly like their mother on the streets of London. The catch—this version of Serene, aged not a day, has enjoyed a childless life.

Clara, a celebrity author in desperate need of validation, believes Serene is their mother, while Dempsey, isolated and content to remain so, believes she is a con woman. As they clash over this stranger, the sisters hurtle toward an altercation that threatens their very existence, forcing them to finally confront their pasts—together.

In her riveting first foray into fiction, Yrsa Daley-Ward conjures a kaleidoscopic multiverse of daughterhood and mother-want, exploring the sacrifices that Black women must make for self-actualization. The result is a marvel of a debut novel that boldly asks, "How can it ever, ever be a crime to choose yourself?"