AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! NAMED A BEST BOOK OF SUMMER by: Chicago Tribune * The View * Southern Living * USA Today “ Remarkably Bright Creatures [is] an ultimately feel-good but deceptively sensitive debut. . . . Memorable and tender.” — Washington Post For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope that traces 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.
Sale end in:
Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Read with Jenna Pick
By: Shelby Van Pelt
ISBN-10: 0063204150
ISBN-13 : 978-0063204157
Publisher : Ecco (May 3, 2022)
Language : English
Hardcover: 368 pages
Reading Age : None
Dimensions : 6 x 0.99 x 9 inches
Item Weight : 1.1 pounds
$24.07 $19.26
Customers reviews
You May Also Like...
Bestsellers
Gifted Guru –
This story crosses so many genres. Modern fiction, book club fiction, magical realism (octopus narrator), coming of age, and probably more. It nails all of them., In addition to a great story, the book is beautifully laid out. The chapters where the octopus is narrating (trust me, they’re great), have gorgeous design elements., On the surface, this is a story of three people and one octopus making their way through grief and challenge and fear to find their path. We have Tova, who’s had more grief than any one person should endure. Cameron, abandoned by his mother and never living up to anyone’s expectations (not even his own). Ethan, attracted to Tova, but too hesitant to make a move. Marcellus, the octopus, determined to make the most of the little time he has left., The story is set on the coast of Washington, north of Seattle. I appreciated the setting’s treatment in the story because it was clear and important, but the author didn’t hit you over the head with it. There was no showing off (“Look how much research I did about this place!”). That can be so annoying., What I loved:, – The characters are developed. Ethan needed more backstory, but other than that the character development was terrific., – The premise is unusual, but it works., – The narrative shifts are easy to follow., – The layout is lovely. I love a well-made book., – The author resists easy solutions, and she leaves one story not completely resolved. This can be dangerous, but here it fits completely., – There are strong life lessons and takeaways, but the author doesn’t beat you over the head with them., – The story moves apace. There’s no lagging. There’s also no rushing. It’s well-paced., – The solutions aren’t easy and pat. There is a definite deux ex machina feel in a few of the story points, but I think that’s to expected when there’s an octopus afoot., What I didn’t love:, – Nothing worth mentioning. Well-crafted, well-designed, and well-executed, this book is a winner., Overall, this is a great person read, and a great book club read.
Ellen C. –
What a lovely novel this is. It had me hooked from beginning to end and close to tears at one point. Maybe it’s because I’m an animal lover, or I was completely gutted by the documentary “My Octopus Teacher,” but I had no problem buying into Marcellus the octopus as a narrator. In fact, he was my favorite part of the book. I’m a writer, so I’m very picky about what I like, and this is one of the best I’ve come across in a long while. I loved seeing a senior citizen as the main character too, (and her friends, too) portrayed so sensitively, her grief at losing her child still so real even after the long passage of time. I did have trouble with Cameron, who is thirty years old and acts and talks like he’s eighteen. I think the author was shooting for the flawed but lovable thing, but he was so irritating even Marcellus didn’t like him. I never developed sympathy for his plight, which was hunting down his father. There was also a plot thread that never got wrapped up regarding what actually happened to Cameron’s parents, but I’m guessing the clues the author left was supposed to be enough to satisfy. All in all, I highly recommend this delightful read and look forward to more by Ms. Van Pelt. An impressive debut for sure!
Escondido –
The imagination of new author Shelby Van Pelt is truly to be admired., This charming and heartwarming story is about an elderly widow, Tova, who keeps active with a job cleaning a public aquarium in a small coastal tourist town. There, alone in the evenings, she amuses herself by sharing her thoughts with the various sea creatures as they swim around taking no notice of her. All except one. Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus who is a keen observer of the people around him. His observations, expressed on the page in short chapters, are astute and correct. Tova is fascinated by him and he by her, though she can’t explain why., We’ll eventually learn the reason why in a bit of magical storytelling that had me weeping with joy., This lovely story is a cut above anything I’ve read in a very long time and you, too, I hope, will believe in Marcellus.
Cynthia J. Bogard –
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt is populated by endearing characters; especially a 70-year-old woman, Tova, and one of the inhabitants of the aquarium Tova cleans nightly, Marcellus, a 60-pound Pacific octopus nearing the end of his life. I was struck with how unusual it is to explore the grief of a quiet woman way past her prime as a central theme of a novel. I commend Van Pelt for making this choice. Tova’s stoicism and quiet contemplation of her lost son and husband are handled in a loving, yet realistic, fashion — a true strength of this work. I loved the inter-species relationship Tova and Marcellus developed. Certain elements of the plot were a stretch. At times, some characters seem almost willfully unenlightened and the coincidences a bit too over the top. The genius-level cogitation of Marcellus kicked the novel into the realm of magical realism and in a few places, were perhaps unnecessary to the novel’s goals. But as a meditation on grief and on the power of connection with others to heal, this novel is as warm as a cup of afternoon tea.