Review by Jill Hedgecock
Remarkably Bright Creatures (Ecco/Harper Collins, May 2022, hardcover, 368 pages, $13.79) by Shelby Van Pelt is a feel-good story about Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at Sowell Bay Aquarium in Washington State, Tova, the aquarium’s custodian, and Cameron, a 30-year-old man who can’t seem to hold down a job. The three main character’s lives all intersect at the aquarium and each holds a clue as to how Tova’s son, Erik, died over 30 years ago.
Marcellus, who provides his own narrative in the novel, counts down his passing days based on his time living in captivity. He is painfully aware he’s reached the end of his life span. The octopus has taken a special interest in Tova and plots a way to help the older woman understand something important about her son’s death before he passes. Marcellus is incredibly intuitive and smart, is a crafty escape artist, and often provides comedic relief.
Tova, a seventy-something widow, is only making the motions of living. She has never recovered from the unsolved mystery surrounding her only child’s death. She “found something to do” as a night shift cleaning lady at the aquarium after her husband passed. When she’s not working, Tova spends time with the “Knit-Wits, her long-term woman’s group, but she feels left out as the women discuss their children and grandchildren. She has a special platonic friendship with the local grocer, Ethan, who is definitely interested in pursuing her.
Cameron is struggling to find his way. His deadbeat mother pawned him off on her sister and he has never known his father’s name. When he discovers an old photo of his mother with a real estate mogul living in Washington State, he jumps to the conclusion that the man is his father. His money woes lead him to travel across the country as he concocts a plan to extract back child support. Things don’t quite pan out and Cameron must get a job to pay back a loan from his aunt. When he lands a job at the aquarium, he sets a new trajectory for his life that he couldn’t possibly have predicted.
Remarkably Bright Creatures is part mystery, part love story, and one-hundred percent enjoyable. It instantly became one of my favorite reads of 2023. Fans of A Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein should put this novel on their “must read” pile.
Remarkably Bright Creatures was an instant New York Times bestseller, a Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick, and an Amazon Best Book of 2022. It was named a Best Book of the 2022 Summer by the “Chicago Tribune” and “USA Today.”
When Shelby Van Pelt isn’t indulging in her flash-fiction addiction, she’s wrangling her cats and children. Remarkably Bright Creatures is her debut novel. She was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, but now calls the suburbs of Chicago home. Find out more at www.shelbyvanpelt.com
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