Book - Remarkably Bright Creature

A New York Times Bestseller!

A Today Show Read With Jenna Book Club Pick!

“Remarkably Bright Creatures is a feel-good but by no means saccharine debut…Memorable and tender.” — Washington Post

For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively readable debut novel about a widow’s unlikely friendship with a giant Pacific octopus reluctantly residing at the local aquarium—and the truths she finally uncovers about her son’s disappearance, thirty years prior.

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, most recently with the mysterious disappearance of her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, who vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with Marcellus, a curmudgeonly 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 an unlikely friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every cephalopod trick he can think of to help his newfound friend uncover the truth before it’s too late.

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a risk can reveal a future you never imagined possible.