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…
An interspecies story
I had heard of this book several times before we decided to explore it together within my book club. As our book club consists of members of the vegan student association, I can imagine that we all loved the setup of one of the main character’s story, that is Marcellus, the octopus, who spent most of his life in captivity. Through his clever narration, we get to see beyond the human perspective and not only get a moving plot around our human protagonists, but also around his last weeks. Emotional roller coaster guaranteed!
Three perspectives coming together
While Marcellus’ story is immediately connected to the one of Tova, as she is cleaning at the place he is captivated, the aquarium of Sowell Bay, we started following Cameron far off from the other character’s lives. Alternating between these two settings made it hard to initially connect to Cameron’s problems, while we wanted to know more about Tova and Marcellus. The character development of Cameron was eventually nice to follow. About halfway through the book, I could further see their connections intensify and solidify, which brought a lot of unexpected joy to my reading experience. Nonetheless, a certain amount of distance remained between me and Cameron’s story despite his great development.
Fascinating and mysterious, but above all emotional
In the first half of the book, we get to know these characters and their fates quite well. So whatever happens with them in the remainder has us in an emotional chokehold. Tova’s grief and aim to move on, Marcellus’ urge for freedom, Cameron’s longing for connection all had me listen to the story non-stop. The author really had us get to know them better and closer with any following chapter and any new revelation, which had me enjoy my time with the story increasingly.
In conclusion,
I am glad we picked up this bestseller, not only for its interspecies connections but also the interpersonal and personal developments we got to witness. A woman who has lost her son and a man who never has known his father find company and eventually something like family in each other—all accompanied by the entertaining wit of an octopus longing for freedom in his old days.
Have you seen that this book is adapted into a Netflix movie, coming out May 8?
The author:
Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Shelby Van Pelt now misses the mountains in the Chicago area with her husband and children. Remarkably Bright Creatures, her debut novel, was an instant New York Times bestseller, was a Good Housekeeping and Glamour Best Book of 2022 and has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide. Source
The reader:
Michael Lorenzo Urie (born August 8, 1980) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Marc St. James on the ABC comedy drama television series Ugly Betty and Brian on the Apple TV+ series Shrinking, a role for which he won a Critics Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor and received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series nomination. He can be heard as Bobby Kerns in As the Curtain Rises, an original podcast soap opera from the Broadway Podcast Network. Source
Marin Ireland (born August 30, 1979) is an American actress. Known for her work in theatre and independent films, The New York Times deemed Ireland „one of the great drama queens of the New York stage“. She has received nominations for two Independent Spirit Awards and one Tony Award. Source