Title: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Book Beginnings quote:
Friday56 quote:
“Tova has always felt more than a bit of empathy for the sharks, with their never-ending laps around the tank. She understands what it means to never be able to stop moving, lest you find yourself unable to breathe.”
Summary:
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. (Publisher)
Review: Back in 2015 an octopus at the Seattle Aquarium named Ink, made the news because he kept escaping his enclosure. A year later an octopus named Inky, made the news in New Zealand for the same thing. Apparently there are lots of stories of large octopuses who have made their way out of enclosures at night to roam around the aquariums where they are imprisoned. When I read about Marcellus, the Giant Pacific Octopus in the fictitious seaside town of Sowell Bay, Washington, I was charmed from the start. Then to add to my delight, the narrator, Michael Urie, did a perfect job reading the part of Marcellus on the audiobook. He made Marcellus sound a bit like a snotty, know-it-all but also vulnerable and lonely. When Tova finds Marcellus in the break room eating out of the food left behind in the garbage, the two form an unlikely friendship -- human and octopus.
Tova's loneliness is broken up by interactions with women in her social group, the owner of the grocery store where she shops, and the young man who replaces her at work while she is recovering from a sprained ankle. All of the characters are flawed but genuine. The mystery of what happened to Eric, Tova's son who disappeared one night not long after he graduated from high school, drives the narrative slowly but determinatively to a heart-warming conclusion. Remarkable Bright Creatures is a quiet story about love, loss, and grief. It is also a story about how we choose to spend our lives and how, if we are lucky, we can be open to finding love again after loss. I highly recommend it.
-Anne
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