The Catch, Alison Fairbrother
The Catch, Alison Fairbrother
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The Catch

Author: Alison Fairbrother

Narrator: Julia Knippen

Unabridged: 8 hr 16 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/21/2022


Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE • A young woman searches for the truth about her father—and the secrets of her family—in this “big-hearted debut that absolutely crackles with smarts” (Emma Straub).

“A warm and funny debut novel . . . perceptive, wry, and witty.”—The New York Times

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: PopSugar

Two years out of college, Ellie Adler has a job in journalism, an older lover, and a circle of smart friends. Her beloved father, James, who has children from three marriages, unites the family with his gentle humor and charisma, but Ellie has always believed she is her father's favorite. When he suddenly dies, she finds herself devastated by the unexpected loss. Then, at the reading of his will, she learns that instead of leaving her his prized possession—a baseball that holds emotional resonance for them both—he has left her a seemingly ridiculous, even insulting gift. Worse, he’s given the baseball to someone no one in the family has ever heard of. 

In her grief, Ellie wonders who could have possibly meant more to her father than she did. Setting out to track this person down, she learns startling information about who her father really was and who she herself is becoming. Moving, witty, and unforgettable, The Catch is a story of the gifts we’re given over the course of a lifetime, by family, friends, and strangers—the ones we want and the ones that catch us unawares.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Nilufer on February 13, 2023

Yes! Such a heartfelt, well written, powerful debut novel about a daughter’s grief and her inner journey to gather the broken pieces of herself to become a whole again by digging out her father’s past in expanse of opening new wounds, getting full closure. This is slow burn, exhilarating drama gets......more

Goodreads review by Theresa on June 09, 2022

When Ellie’s father dies unexpectedly at the age of 52, she’s thrown for a loop, especially when he leaves his prize possession to a stranger and the item he leaves for her makes no sense. Did he not love her as much as she thought he did? As a journalist, she can make tracking down this mystery part......more

Goodreads review by Jonann loves book talk❤♥️❤ on April 11, 2022

The Catch by Alison Fairbrother, tells the poignant story of Ellie, a girl grieving the unexpected loss of her dad James. She gets a fluorescent tie rack instead of his prize baseball she expected at the reading of the will. Even more shocking, he left the baseball to a person no one in the family k......more

Goodreads review by Shannon on July 04, 2022

I solidly liked this one. I didn't hate it or love it though and I know it's not going to stick with me long after I move on to the next book. I did enjoy the family mystery element of the plot that sees Ellie Adler going on a journey to track down the unknown person named in her recently (and unexp......more

Goodreads review by Jeatherhane Reads on June 14, 2022

Ellie finds out her dad didn't leave her his lucky baseball in his will. She goes on a quest to find out the story behind it and really, the story is very underwhelming. She also finds out the story about why he left her a tie rack instead. That story is ridiculous. Ellie is childish and jealous, an......more


Quotes

“[A] warm and funny debut novel . . . perceptive, wry, and witty . . . with well-wrought observation of the rhythm and patterns of grief. . . . Ellie’s careless behavior represents an underexplored and therefore exciting investigation into a family dynamic—one in which a daughter responds to her father’s reckless entitlement not by shrinking into herself, by becoming ultra-virtuous or self-destructive, but by acting out with similar reckless entitlement in turn. . . . The strength of this book [is] the depiction of a smart, talented and sexual young woman who is in the process of learning, as adults must, to balance pride with humility, pain with pleasure, and acceptable fictions with uncomfortable truths.”The New York Times

The Catch is a thoroughly entertaining and absorbing book by a writer who is brilliantly funny. I laughed, I cried, I thought about life. I now want to read whatever Alison Fairbrother writes.”—Susan Minot, author of Why I Don’t Write: And Other Stories

“This big-hearted debut absolutely crackles with smarts—the sentences are crisp, the story unfurls, the characters are just right. The Catch is a delightful read about love, loss, and the vulnerability of growing up.”—Emma Straub, author of All Adults Here

“In this wonderful, wholly absorbing family drama with a mystery at its beating heart, Alison Fairbrother asks, What are we owed by the people we love? The answers she provides are funny, sad, complex, and always surprising. I loved this book and you will too.”—Meg Wolitzer, author of The Female Persuasion

The Catch is about the mysteries left behind in death, but, importantly, it is just as much about the mysteries of living and the discoveries made while aching and searching and loving. This is a satisfying and wise novel by an author I will happily follow anywhere.”—Ramona Ausubel, author of Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty and No One Is Here Except All of Us

The Catch is an intimate family drama about secrets and what we are willing to do for, or hide from, those we love most. Alison Fairbrother’s writing makes her characters, with all their flaws and weaknesses and desires, feel like people you know. Set against the vibrant backdrop of Washington, D.C., The Catch unfurls in entirely unexpected directions and had me utterly engaged from the very first page.”—Anton DiSclafani, author of The After Party

“Fairbrother’s debut is characterized by its elegant yet comfortable prose—readers will feel at home with Ellie as if experiencing the story’s events along with her. The mystery drives the plot, but Ellie’s personal growth is the heart of the novel. . . . This layered coming-of-age story will appeal to fans of Jennifer E. Smith’s The Unsinkable Greta James (2022).”Booklist

“In Fairbrother’s perceptive debut, a young journalist is left reeling and looking for answers after her father’s sudden death.”—Publishers Weekly