Remarkably Bright Creatures is the debut novel by Shelby Van Pelt, published in 2022. To say it was an instant hit is a massive understatement!
It was featured on Glamour’s Best Books of 2022, as well as Good Housekeeping Best Books of 2022. It was also a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick. If that wasn’t enough, Amazon also named it the #1 book of 2022 so far.
I therefore had high expectations when choosing this book for my next read!
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Plot
Tova Sullivan has lived alone ever since her husband died. Her house that used to be full of love now feels very empty. Her eighteen-year-old son Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat over thirty years ago, and Tova has never managed to get the answers she hoped for.
Being busy has always helped her to manage her grief and so, after losing her husband, she starts a job atsa night cleaner at the Sowell Bay Aquarium.
Here, she makes the most unlikely of friends. Marcellus is a giant Pacific octopus who has no time for any of his human captors…until he meets Tova.
This gentle and quiet old lady instantly makes an impact on Marcellus and her obvious sadness bothers him. Ever the detective, Marcellus realises what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. He realises he now must use every trick his old body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.
Remarkably Bright Creatures Book Review
What an utterly gorgeous book. I absolutely loved it.
It’s such a gentle tale, with really engaging and realistic characters. They were flawed and well developed and I rooted for them all. I found Tova’s quiet stoicism so endearing and I really emphasised with Cameron.
I adored Marcellus the octopus! What a fantastically memorable character. The role of the Marcellus as a narrator was reminiscent of the Fig Tree in Elif Shafak’s The Island of Missing Trees. While he wasn’t completely omniscient, he does give the reader an extra insight to the characters.
The book has two mysteries at it’s heart, the truth about Cameron’s parentage and what happened to Erik thirty years ago. The mystery is well done and whilst not a massive shock, I enjoyed how it was sensitively handled.
This book was such an unexpected hit for me. It was charming (without becoming too saccharine) yet also really intriguing. I loved how the author combined wry wit alongside other parts of the story that were so poignant and sad. I found it had a similar gentleness to Leonard and Hungry Paul, albeit with a completely different storyline.
There was real sadness in this book, especially for Tova, and the ending made me cry. However, the story still manages to leave the reader with a sense of hope and optimism.
I absolutely loved this book and would definitely recommend it.
What to read next
If you enjoyed Remarkably Bright Creatures, I would also recommend When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman and Still Life by Sarah Winman.