The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Fairbrother, Alison. The Catch. Penguin Random House LLC., 2022.

Alison Fairbrother's novel The Catch is written from the main character Ellie's first person point of view and set in 2012 Washington, D.C. The novel primarily relies upon the past tense and a linear plot trajectory.

Throughout her life, Ellie relied upon her relationship with her father, Jim, for her understanding of love and intimacy. When her father died unexpectedly of a heart attack only five days after Ellie last saw him, Ellie felt her sense of stability and reality begin to fracture. She became even more unmoored when her stepmother Colette read her father's will to the family. Instead of leaving Ellie his lucky baseball, her father had left her an ugly, seemingly meaningless gingerbread-inspired tie rack. Ellie told herself she could understand the will if Jim had given the ball to her half-brother, Van. However, Colette revealed that he had in fact designated the baseball to a stranger by the name of L. M. Taylor.

After Jim's funeral, Ellie returned to her life in Washington, D.C. She had recently graduated from college, moved to the city, started living in a community house called 1938 House with her roommates Mallory, Aidan, Nick and Katherine, and begun working for an online news source called Apogee. This was as independent and grown-up as Ellie had ever felt. In spite of her life’s nominal stability, given her father's recent passing, returning to D.C. felt more trying than relieving for Ellie.

Unable to contact her married boyfriend, Lucas, Ellie was unsure how to cope. After attempting casual sex with a stranger, Ellie sent Lucas a string confusing text messages. When Lucas failed to reply, Ellie showed up at his office unannounced. Though he gave Ellie a necklace, Lucas insisted she never visit him at work again.

Meanwhile, Ellie tried investing in her work at Apogee to distract herself from her inarticulable emotions. When her boss Jane assigned her to the new "Rising Tides" series, Ellie decided to use the project as a way to manufacture an encounter with the enigmatic recipient of Jim's baseball. She had recently learned that L. M. Taylor was in fact named Larry Taylor, and had gone to school and played baseball with her father. Larry also volunteered with the local osprey sanctuaries. When Larry found out who Ellie was, however, he shut down and dismissed her from his property.

The more Ellie looked into her father's past, the more confused she felt. She was also having trouble navigating her relationship with Lucas. She believed she loved him, but felt frustrated that Lucas would not choose her over his wife.

Following the publication of her piece about the ospreys, Larry arranged a meeting with Ellie. During their meeting, Larry revealed the truth about his and Jim's friendship. He had been in love with Jim, but Jim had betrayed him and never apologized. Larry's account surprised Ellie, but it also granted her insight into her own life and relationships. Following her conversation with Larry, Ellie confessed how she really felt to Lucas and made amends with everyone in her life who she had wronged.