Title:

Remarkably Bright Creatures

Author:

Shelby van Pelt

Category:

Fiction / Literature

Rating:

Date Reviewed:

May 21, 2024
emarkably Bright Creatures has a Giant Pacific Octopus named Marcellus as one of the characters. Octopuses are much smarter than one might expect, given that they are invertebrates and have a life span of just two to four years. Marcellus the octopus is the prize specimen at the Sowell Bay Aquarium in the Pacific Northwest. He is nearing the end of his short lifespan - Marcellus knows that he hasn't much longer to live, he has been counting the days of his captivity. Marcellus is much smarter than anyone realize. He can read signs of the aquarium, he also understands human speech. Marcellus also can easily escape from his tank, which he frequently does during the deserted nighttime hours. He likes to raid the other exhibits for extra snack food. An octopus can survive out of water for almost twenty minutes; after that, they are dried out and unable to keep moving.

Tova Sullivan works nights at the Sowell Bay Aquarium as a cleaner. She is over 60 years old, stands just about five feet tall, yet she is tough and practical, able to thrive the rigors of the cleaning job. Everything must be done correctly - the glass tanks wiped clean with soft cloth that won't scratch the surface, the trash cans lined with bags that won't fall in if they get too full. Despite her calm outward appearance, Tova is actually a grieving soul. 30 years ago, her teenage son Erik disappeared, and no one knows what happened. A small boat was found out in the Puget Sound with the anchor line cut, so it is presumed that he drowned.

Since her husband died of pancreatic cancer, Tova has lived alone in a beautiful house that has a view of Puget Sound. Her social life centers around a group of similarly-aged women; they call themselves the Knit-Wits. But the Knit-Wits are now down to just four members, and one of them is soon to be departing to live in Spokane with her daughter. Tova wonders what will her own fate when she can no longer care for herself; she has no family. Tova leads a quiet life (she is a master at solving crossword puzzles) but feels empty without any relatives around her. She often wonders about Erik's demise.

Cameron Cassmore is a ne'er-do-well living in California. Now 30 years old, he is incapable of holding a steady job. Cameron only has a high school education, and struggles to be a responsible adult. Cameron never knew his father, and his mother, Daphne, dropped him off at Aunt Jean's house one day when he was nine years old and never returned to pick him up. Cameron has never seen his mother again. Aunt Jean struggled to raise him. Cameron is actually quite bright - his head is full of random facts and Shakespeare quotes, but it is "useless" information that doesn't help him succeed.

One day, Aunt Jean gives Cameron a box of stuff that belong to his mother. Besides the junk, there is a photograph that shows his teenage mom with Simon Brinks. Daphne was in high school when she became pregnant with Cameron - perhaps Simon Brinks is his father! Brinks is a wealthy developer up in the Pacific Northwest, Cameron decides to go up there and confront him, and maybe the wealthy guy will give him 18 years of child support payments that he never made. Cameron borrows money from Aunt Jean and flies up to Seattle.

Despite the implication of the dust jacket, this book is not really about Marcellus the octopus, who plays the role of supporting actor, sort of like Ethan the gossipy owner of the only grocery store in Sowell Bay. Marcellus gets to tell his side of the story in brief chapters, but he really doesn't have much to say. The meat of the tale is the twin story arcs of Cameron and Tova. We follow both of them, and naturally the stories overlap when they meet each other at Sowell Bay (a litany of hurdles leaves Cameron in desperate need of a job, so he ends up working at the aquarium too).

A minor thing that bugged me - every time someone interacts with Marcellus, van Pelt describes them as looking into the eye (singular) of the octopus. Octopuses have two eyes, of course, so it strange to me that the books description always made it sound like an octopus is some kind of cyclops.

The characters are what drive the novel - van Pelt created some interesting people that make you care enough about that you keep reading to see what happens to them next. This is van Pelt's first novel, it is a fine achievement for a debut book. But now she has set a high bar if she writes a second book, Remarkably Bright Creatures will be hard to top.