Remarkably Bright Creatures
Shelby Van Pelt
5 stars
Format: Audiobook
My PNW heart swelled while reading Shelby Van Pelt’s delightful debut novel. She captures the soul of the region and I could nearly smell the salt water spray as I fell into a cozy familiarity with the characters.
Remarkably Bright Creatures is as calm and easy as watching the tide lapping against the shore. By some stretch of the imagination you could speculate it’s a murder mystery, but that would do a disservice to the depth Van Pelt gave to her characters in the fictional town of Sowell Bay. Tova, Cameron, Ethan, Marcellus, Terry. All have humanity (yes, even Marcellus) and all feel so very real.
We’ve all met a Cameron, whip-smart but throws away chances like they are yesterday’s newspaper. Things always happen to him and it’s never his fault. Cameron isn’t entirely likable, but we see him slowly become a better man as time goes on. We’ve all met a Tova, the neurotic but kind and gentle woman who has a lifetime’s worth of wisdom and experience. Then there’s Marcellus, while not exactly human (in fact, he is a giant Pacific octopus) has a dramatic and acerbic personality. Every chapter you encounter Marcellus is a chapter you won’t want to end. After reading Remarkably Bright Creatures, consider me a four-year-old freshly obsessed with a new animal as I research octopuses and fact check every detail I came across in the story. Did you know octopuses have blue blood?
This story is told by Tova, Cameron, and Marcellus in alternating chapters. Cameron, a feckless 30-year-old who can’t hold a job or a relationship, makes his way to Washington state from Modesto, California in search of his father – a man he’s never met but suspects is a wealthy real estate developer in the area. His intention is to shake him down for 18 years of missed child support payments. His drug-addicted mother abandoned him as a child and he feels like he is owed something in this world. Tova is an elderly widow who cleans the local aquarium. Her past is checkered with sadness and grief after the unexpected death of her son at 18 years old (they never found the body), the death of her husband (cancer), and when we meet her, the death of her estranged brother (he was in a care home). Marcellus, the effervescent narrator, is the giant Pacific octopus who resides in the Sowell Bay Aquarium Tova cleans. He is sneaky, intelligent, and offers humorous ruminations of the humans he observes. Soon, Marcellus and Tova form a bond in the final stages of his life. Remarkably Bright Creatures focuses on how these three lives start in each other’s orbit, then slowly crash into one another. It is thoughtful and lovely.
Van Pelt provides enough urgency in the story to compel the reader to flip the pages, but this is not an action-packed novel. Not quite a beach read, but rather a book you bring with you on a weekend getaway to enjoy under a large blanket with a hot cup of coffee.
I would be remiss not to mention that I enjoyed Remarkably Bright Creatures via audiobook. Marin Ireland lends her voice to the majority of characters, from Tova’s aging intonation to Ethan’s Scottish brogue (performed with conviction). But it is Michael Urie narrating Marcellus that shines remarkably bright. His drawl wraps around you like one of Marcellus’s tentacles. His whispers pull you in. His sarcastic tone will bring a smile to your face. The performances by Marin Ireland and Michael Urie are phenomenal. However you consume it, Remarkably Bright Creatures is not one to miss.
