The Catch

by Louisa Mccormack

Forced on hiatus from her producer's job on Marry Me or Else!, Minerva Watkins heads for the tiny fishing village of Tuck Harbour. Working the counter at Eats n’ Treats, Minerva gets to know the locals, including eligible bachelor Joe McTeal. But try as she might to love Joe and the quaint fishing village, Minerva can’t ignore the call of the big city. A comical look at life in the slow lane, The Catch is a sassy, sexy update of Anne of Green Gables.

Genres: Fiction

339 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

My mother taught me how to read when I was twenty-two months old so I blame her for everything. My marvellous Polish grandmother let me know what I was destined for in the most matter-of-fact way when I was around 13. We’d been entertaining a lively correspondence for years and during one visit she happened to mention, “But Louisee darling, you are a writer.” (McCormack is actually my middle name; my last name has so many consonants in a row that everyone stumbles.) I’m the proverbial colonel’s daughter. I was born in Montreal and moved eight times before I was 18. A couple of those postings were to Europe so I ended up at a British boarding school. I’ll have to write about that some day. I majored in English in Toronto and then spent my 20’s in high slacker style, vagabonding in Paris, London, Spain and Africa. I settled down to a Masters in Creative Writing back in Montreal once I turned 30. It was great to carve away so much time to write, despite not yet having established myself professionally in any meaningful way. Eventually, I started freelancing for CBC radio, the Canadian NPR. That led to a TV hosting job. That helped me save up enough money to write another (functional) novel, viz SWTT. Magazine work and summer reporting jobs keep me going so far. But if I want a condo and smart car, I’ll have to start exploring more options. I’m really intrigued at the idea of teaching English to newcomers and refugees. You wish me luck, I’ll wish you luck … hooray, we’ve got luck!

Reviews

[Lydia Laceby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally Reviewed at Novel Escapes

I had to work at this novel and was tempted several times to put it down. This doesn’t happen to me often, but before I begin, a brief description of the book.

We follow Minnie, a television producer in Toronto, whose boss decides she needs a break at the same time her great uncle Rex asks her to come to Prince Edward Island to look after his house when he goes into a seniors home on a trial basis. On her adventures in PEI, she finds a simpler life, falls for a fisherman in the village and learns a little something along the way.

My first issue with this novel was McCormack’s flair for language which I found over done. There were multiple words I was not familiar with and could not even figure out their context from the sentence, the first occurring on the third page. I have a university degree and am well read, yet this book had me rereading sentences over and over again as I got lost amidst her prose.

With this overuse of language though comes one of the positive things I discovered with this novel, and the only reason I rated it 1.5 star instead of 1 star. There were a few heavy scenes which were much stronger due to her writing style, although one of them I almost couldn’t read because the narrative was too much. It may well be that McCormack’s talent lies in writing in a genre other than chick lit. I found in her prose a few unique gems that have stayed with me including this passage describing a pick up truck: “But he had also forced a weapon into my hands, a ton of steel that could pop muscles open like grapes and squirt blood across the road like the Lord’s ketchup.” But unfortunately, others, such as “I didn’t just drift off – I was swept to unconscious like flotsam in the path of effluent” or “The urine coloured sky” just didn’t work for me.

This novel was well researched and the education I received about the fishing industry and environmental impact will remain with me. McCormack also highlighted such details in her previous novel Six Weeks to Toxic with the main character’s role in the movie industry.

I wasn’t able to relate to Minnie’s character, had a distinct lack of empathy for her and couldn’t figure out what drove her or what she even wanted. I found the plot slow, even her fast paced life in Toronto at the beginning of the novel and wasn’t even sure much of that was even necessary. I thought the characterization and plot were lost in translation because of the over done writing. This novel left no emotional impression on me and I didn’t care in the end what happened, although I did warm up slightly in the middle and became more curious as to what would happen, but by that point I had already been tempted to put the novel down several times.


The ending wasn’t predictable, but didn’t leave me satisfied either, although that might have been because I just didn’t care as much about Minnie’s adventures as I wanted to.

[Juanita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review: The Catch by Louisa McCormack

It took me a while to read this book. It was suppose to be humorous but I never even got a smile out of the story. I don’t think it was well-written and I didn’t care for most of the characters. I’ve been reading this book from the first of April in between other better books. I couldn’t seem to like the main character Minnie for some reason. I found the plot slow and I got bored but I finally manage to get to the end. I did like the information on the fishing industry and environment on Prince Edwards Island.

The story begins when Minnie, a television producer in Toronto who gets stressed over her career so her boss thought she needed a break away from her work. Minnie decides to leave Toronto and spend the summer with her uncle Rex, an elderly man who has a home on the Island but has gone to some assisted living place temporarily on Prince Edwards Island. So Minnie has a place to stay at her uncle’s and she can visit him frequently where he was now staying. Rex claims he’s happy there and has made many friends. I did like his character and seemed like an older sweet man.

So Minnie settled in for the summer and finds a simpler life, falls for a fisherman named Joe in the small village and they have a strange relationship that seemed more like a “fling for the summer” and that’s what I felt because they just didn’t seem to be a loving couple. They seemed distant towards each other but there were some sex scenes where they both enjoyed themselves. The story left no emotional impact on me and I predicted the ending before I got there. Some day I’m just going to bite the bullet and just put the book down unfinished and walk away…. It’s just hard when you have OCD…..

[Sophia Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally..a book about a single, independant woman who hasn't just turned 30 and yearning to find a husband before--gulp--it's too late. Minerva is past the age of 40 and still seeking adventure, love, and good sex. She finds it all on PEI but, thankfully, the novel doesn't end in a fairy tale wedding. A good read for any thoroughly modern millie.

[Kristal · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me weeks to get through this. I wasn't compelled to read yet I still wanted to know what happened. Ultimately though, I found the writing style a bit pretentious and although the characters did ring true, I didn't really like them much.