Author: Shelby Van Pelt
Reviewed by Chloe Fuksa, Putnam Six Bookstore
This is certainly a book you can judge by its cover! Remarkably Bright Creatures is the recently-released debut novel from author Shelby Van Pelt, and it is just as wonderful and rich as it looks. It’s a work of literary fiction following three main characters: Tova, Cameron, and Marcellus. The story alternates between each one’s point of view, and you can’t quite see how they are all connected. As you read though, the puzzle pieces start falling into place and you get this beautiful convergence by the end.
Tova has recently lost her husband and now cleans the local aquarium at night to help battle her loneliness. She has a group of friends – the Knit Wits – but she feels that she’ll need to move away to a retirement village so that she isn’t a burden to them as she grows older. For Cameron, he is seemingly lost in life – he can’t keep a job, he doesn’t have a place to live, and he doesn’t know much of anything about his parents. When he arrives in Sowell Bay looking for his father, little does he know what the small town has in store for him. Lastly, Marcellus is a giant Pacific octopus at the aquarium – who likes to escape his enclosure at night! Marcellus is very smart and attentive, and as he forms an unlikely friendship with Tova, he actually helps her unravel the mystery of her son’s disappearance three decades prior.
In the early promotional materials for this book, it was drawing comparisons to A Man Called Ove, and in many ways, that’s very accurate. It is a really warm, charming, funny read, celebrating friendships and family and community and unwavering hope. And a good reminder too to love all living creatures, even a curmudgeon sixty-pound octopus!
Visit us in Sunset Plaza or call 580-297-5089 to get your copy of Remarkably Bright Creatures today!
