After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night cleaner shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Ever since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat over thirty years ago, keeping busy has helped her cope. One night she meets Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium who sees everything 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 body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late…
Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.
Anyone who watched the documentary My Octopus Teacher will know that octopi are incredibly intelligent animals, capable of forming bonds with humans. They are undoubtedly, remarkably bright creatures, and Van Pelt’s debut novel explores the characteristics, and indeed feelings, of one particular octopus in the Sowell Bay Aquarium.
While dual narratives are fairly common, it’s not every day that you read a novel with chapters told from the first-person perspective of an octopus. Van Pelt has woven the story of Marcellus the octopus with that of widowed Tova and the young Cameron who comes to town in search of his father. As their paths cross, Marcellus, who is wise and good-humoured for a creature with a lifespan of only four years, helps Tova and Cameron come to terms with their grief, their losses and newfound loves. It may sound outlandish for an octopus to play such a role, but Remarkably Bright Creatures will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy.
Imbued with humour and warmth, while dealing with more serious themes of grief and loss, Van Pelt’s debut is an impressive and inventive read. Animal lovers will adore this novel.
“Remarkably bright creatures” is a fantastic allegory! But from all the reviews and reader commentaries that I’ve read so far, there doesn’t seem to be any parallels drawn to Norse mythology—So here’s why I think it’s so relevant: Marcellus the octopus is a totally Sleipnir-like character. Besides, just like Sleipnir, being eight-legged and perceptive to the point of telepathy, Marcellus, just like Sleipnir, is a traveler between realms, not only between the realms of land and sea, but between the realms of the living and the dead. And then, the Woden/wooden—Dala horse mentioned throughout this book is also evocative of Sleipnir as the horse of Woden (or Odin) that showed amazing regeneration, just like a tentacle, at the end of this quite endearing and magical book.