Remarkably Bright Creatures

by Shelby Van Pelt · 2022

Remarkably Bright Creatures is a debut novel about Tova Sullivan, a widowed night‑shift worker at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, who forms an unlikely friendship with Marcellus, a curmudgeonly giant Pacific octopus. As their bond deepens, the octopus uses his prodigious memory and keen observation to help Tova investigate the mysterious disappearance of her eighteen‑year‑old son Erik, who vanished on a boat in Puget Sound thirty years earlier. The story weaves humor, mystery, and heartfelt exploration of loss, family, and hope, showing how an unexpected connection can illuminate hidden truths and offer a path toward healing.