Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (2022)
An absolutely delightful piece of literary fiction.
Laura’s Rating: 5/5 Stars
Plot: Elderly widow Tova Sullivan works at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, keeping the place mopped and immaculately tidy. The job keeps her distracted from her grief over her late husband and her son, Erik, who went missing 30 years ago at age 18. Tova develops an unlikely friendship with Marcellus, the giant Pacific octopus that lives at the aquarium. Oddly enough, the octopus just might have the answers Tova has been looking for about what happened to her son.
Analysis: Based on the description of the book being about a woman and her unconventional friendship with an octopus, I was unsure how much I’d enjoy the story. Let me tell you, I love Marcellus the octopus. He’s the best part, but I won’t give too much away.
The other characters are fantastic as well and you find yourself rooting for each of them, even when they don’t entirely deserve it. To put it simply, author Shelby Van Pelt created characters that I wanted to keep reading about. Seemingly unrelated storylines start to come together as the book goes on and the result is a charming and heartwarming story about not giving up on the present and future just because of the past.
The book reminded me of other stories that feature people reflecting on their life and relationships like A Man Called Ove or The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for a charming but compelling read.
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