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, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.
Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a 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 a remarkable friendship with Tova.
Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.
Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.
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, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.
Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a 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 a remarkable friendship with Tova.
Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.
Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.
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Find Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
Find Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
1 books in catalog
A debut novel featuring an observant giant Pacific octopus as a co-narrator became a major publishing success following its release in May 2022. Shelby Van Pelt entered the contemporary fiction landscape with Remarkably Bright Creatures, a book that spent over a year in aggregate on the New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list and sold millions of copies.
The novel earned critical recognition, including selection as a Read With Jenna Today Show book club pick, the 2023 Heartland Prize for Fiction, and the 2023 McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns First Novel Prize from The Writer's Center.
Shelby Van Pelt was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest, where she attended Stadium High School. She later attended Claremont McKenna College, graduating in 2002. After earning her degree, she spent several years working as a financial consultant specializing in litigation. While living in Atlanta, Georgia, she began drafting her debut manuscript in 2013.
Van Pelt continued developing her craft through continuing education courses at the College of DuPage, writing the majority of her first novel in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the publication and success of Remarkably Bright Creatures, she relocated to the Chicago, Illinois area, where she resides with her family.
Van Pelt's writing combines realistic Pacific Northwest settings with unconventional point-of-view choices, notably blending human perspectives with an intelligent animal narrator. Her work explores themes of grief, personal isolation, family secrets, and the unexpected connections that help individuals overcome emotional stagnation.
1 books in catalog
A debut novel featuring an observant giant Pacific octopus as a co-narrator became a major publishing success following its release in May 2022. Shelby Van Pelt entered the contemporary fiction landscape with Remarkably Bright Creatures, a book that spent over a year in aggregate on the New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list and sold millions of copies.
The novel earned critical recognition, including selection as a Read With Jenna Today Show book club pick, the 2023 Heartland Prize for Fiction, and the 2023 McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns First Novel Prize from The Writer's Center.
Shelby Van Pelt was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest, where she attended Stadium High School. She later attended Claremont McKenna College, graduating in 2002. After earning her degree, she spent several years working as a financial consultant specializing in litigation. While living in Atlanta, Georgia, she began drafting her debut manuscript in 2013.
Van Pelt continued developing her craft through continuing education courses at the College of DuPage, writing the majority of her first novel in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the publication and success of Remarkably Bright Creatures, she relocated to the Chicago, Illinois area, where she resides with her family.
Van Pelt's writing combines realistic Pacific Northwest settings with unconventional point-of-view choices, notably blending human perspectives with an intelligent animal narrator. Her work explores themes of grief, personal isolation, family secrets, and the unexpected connections that help individuals overcome emotional stagnation.
