What a wonderful surprise this was! I thought Remarkably Bright Creatures was a story about a woman and an octopus, but it turned out to be so much more than that. This is Shelby Van Pelt’s first book, and I don’t think a debut has affected me like this since I read Hollow Kingdom, another story that unfolds through the eyes of an animal. The story has a bit of magical realism to it, in the sense that parts of it are told from the octopus’s point of view, but otherwise it’s simply a delightful tale about family and connections that had me ugly crying by the end of the book.
In the first chapter we meet Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus on display in the Sowell Bay Aquarium near Puget Sound. Marcellus has been in captivity for 1,299 days, and based on his life expectancy of about four years, he believes he only has a handful of days left to live. His dreary days in a small glass enclosure are broken up by secret nighttime excursions, as Marcellus is extremely smart and has found a way out of his tank.
Tova Sullivan is a seventy-year-old woman who has been working nights at the aquarium as a cleaning lady for the past two years. Tova knows how to remove the hundreds of fingerprints on the tank walls and can polish the floors to a brilliant shine. She’s also quite fond of the sea creatures she encounters each night, especially Marcellus, and the two have formed an unusual bond since Tova saved Marcellus one night after he escaped and became entangled in a bunch of electrical cords.
Next, we meet Cameron Cassmore, a thirty-year-old man who is drifting through life with no real purpose. Cameron lives in California, and one day his aunt gives him a box of his estranged mother’s things. Inside the box he finds a photo and an old class ring, clues that could lead to the identity of his father, a man he never knew. Cameron hops on a plane to Washington state, convinced the man he thinks is his father—a rich real estate tycoon—will be so distraught over abandoning his son, he’ll shower Cam with money. At least that’s the plan.
Finally, Ethan Mack is the owner of Sowell Bay’s Shop-Way, the local grocery store. Ethan has known Tova for years and secretly has a crush on her, but Tova is much too distant to notice his interest. When Cameron shows up at the Shop-Way looking for a job, Ethan directs him to his friend who manages the aquarium, which is how Cameron and Tova meet.
Tying all these characters together is Marcellus, a remarkably bright octopus with a penchant for stealing and hoarding the treasures he finds after hours on the aquarium floor, and who just might be able to bring two people together who need each other—but don’t yet realize it.
Van Pelt’s chapters alternate among all these characters and introduce a slew of side characters as well, each one vitally important to the story. At first, we don’t realize how each character is connected to the next, but slowly the author reveals her secrets until the stunned reader begins to understand the depth of these connections. Each character is given a detailed backstory that becomes very important to the plot. Tova’s story in particular was heart wrenching, as she has experienced quite a bit of loss in her life and finds herself mostly alone in her twilight years. Luckily she belongs to a group of women who call themselves the Knit-Wits, and the four of them meet weekly to eat, drink, gossip and support each other. Tova came to America from Sweden as a little girl, so the story is filled with details about growing up with her Swedish mother and father. Even the Dala horses her mother collected play a part in the story, and I found these little details added so much richness.
At first I couldn’t figure out how Cameron fit it, but once he arrives in Sowell Bay and meets Ethan and Tova, his story takes on new meaning. Cameron meets a woman named Avery who also plays a vital part in filling in some of the missing pieces about Cameron’s father, and I loved the way the author gave even the most insignificant side characters meaning and purpose.
Van Pelt infuses her story with so many emotional moments and themes. We see how the Knit-Wits are going through the aging process, as their numbers have dwindled over the last few years. Tova is facing being alone in her old age, with no children or husband to take care of her, and so she makes the rash decision to sell her beloved house and move into a retirement community. I don’t want to give too many details about Tova’s past and her losses, because I think it’s better to discover those revelations for yourself. Let’s just say that I felt Tova’s pain and wanted nothing more than for her to be happy.
And Van Pelt includes so many funny moments in her story that kept the tone light, despite some of the more heavy themes. There’s an ongoing bit about Cameron’s lost luggage that was hysterically funny, and Tova inherits a stray cat at one point, which was a delightful side plot. I also loved the story about the t-shirt that Tova uses to clean Ethan’s kitchen—you’ll just have to read the book so you can experience the hilarity too!
And of course, I can’t forget the star of the story, Marcellus the octopus. As the days tick by—each of his chapters starts with a marker (“Day 1,299 of my captivity”, etc)---the tension builds as Marcellus gets closer to his impending death (at least that’s what he thinks). Marcellus understands human nature more than most humans, and I loved the way he wisely intuits each character’s needs. Ultimately, this is a story about creatures—both human and animal—saving each other. The way Marcellus’s story plays out was absolutely perfect—heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.
This is a very special book, and I’m so glad I was able to finally read it. Highly recommended!
Rain
T. Sparks