An endearingly quirky feelgood mystery novel with a very unusual pairing at its heart, Remarkably Bright Creatures charts the growing bond between aquarium worker Tova and Marcellus the octopus, as they attempt to discover how and why Tova's son disappeared.
A charming and compulsively readable exploration of friendship and hope, tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.
After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.
Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors - until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.
Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late. Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN: 9781526649645
Number of pages: 368
Dimensions: 234 x 153 mm
A unique and luminous book - Booklist
A beautiful examination of how loneliness can be transformed, cracked open, with the slightest touch from another living thing. Shelby Van Pelt makes good on this wild conceit, somehow making me love a misanthropic octopus, but her writing is so finely tuned that it's a natural element of a larger story about family, about loss and the electricity of something found - Kevin Wilson, author of NOTHING TO SEE HERE
Remarkably Bright Creatures is the rarest of feats: a book that manages to be wry and wise, charming and surprising, and features one of the most intriguing and satisfying characters I’ve encountered in fiction in a very long time – Marcellus the Octopus. I don’t know how Shelby Van Pelt managed to make this uncommon tale sing so beautifully, but sing it does, and I defy you to put it down once you’ve started - Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, author of THE NEST
Truly original and touching, Remarkably Bright Creatures is a story of family, community, and optimism in spite of darkness. Prepare to fall in love - Helen Hoang, author of THE KISS QUOTIENT
Shelby’s characters are unique and yet completely relatable ... It is a fresh and fascinating story full of heart and humour and I loved it. - Ruth Hogan, author of The Keeper of Lost Things
A winningly totally original feel-good mystery packed with memorable characters that, once started, demands to be finished - Irish Independent
An ultimately feel-good but deceptively sensitive debut about what it feels like to have love taken from you, only to find it again in the most unexpected places ... Memorable and tender. - Washington Post
A warm and satisfying book. It wrapped itself around me, luring me into the many mysteries hidden just beneath the surface. - Polly Crosby, author of The Illustrated Child
Remarkable characters, who will stay with you for a long time. - Anstey Harris, author of The Trials and Triumphs of Grace Atherton
You’ll bask in this book’s warmth and wit - Spectrum
The best books about grief find a way to illuminate the darkness of loss, and Remarkably Bright Creatures offers a masterclass - Marie Claire
Infused with heartfelt humor, Van Pelt’s elegant portrait of a widowed woman who finds understanding and connection with a clever octopus is refreshingly, if surprisingly, relatable. Despite the unorthodox relationship at its core, the debut novel offers a wholly original meditation on grief and the bonds that keep us afloat - Elle
A charming tale where humankind and animals share a bond - Tova, an elderly lady still grieving her missing son, Cameron, an orphan, searching for the truth about his parents and best of all, Marcellus McSquiddles, a... More
REVIEW
⚠️cw: death, grief, addiction, child abandonment⚠️
Seventy-year-old Tova Sullivan works the night shift at Sowell Bay Aquarium in the Pacific Northwest, where she forms an unlikely friendship with Marcellus, a...
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This book follows a wide range of interesting characters, one of which is a charismatic octopus named Marcellus. It's a story about friendship, loss and family and is written so beautifully I mostly smiled my way... More
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