Home › Fiction › Remarkably Bright Creatures

Remarkably Bright Creatures

by Shelby Van Pelt

An aquarium friendship, an old disappearance, and a search for answers

Regular price $23.88 USD
Regular price $39.80 USD Sale price $23.88 USD
Save 40%

Hardcover New English

Delivery to your door
In stock·Dispatches in 1–2 business days
Standard shipping* from $4.35
Standard shipping transit* 5–8 business days after dispatch

Faster options are available.

Rates and delivery estimates depend on your destination and item quantity. Estimates are informational only; the final shipping method and rate are selected at checkout.

Secure checkout
American Express Apple Pay DiscoverGoogle Pay Mastercard PayPalVisa
30-day eligible returns Returns & refunds policy

AlbakiReads Editorial

An aquarium friendship, an old disappearance, and a search for answers

At the Sowell Bay Aquarium, widow Tova Sullivan fills the night shift with routine, while Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus, observes more than his human keepers realize. Their friendship brings together two strands of the novel: Tova’s life after her husband’s death and the unresolved disappearance of her son, Erik, decades earlier. When Marcellus pieces together what happened the night Erik vanished, the aquarium becomes the setting for a search that links the past with the possibility of a different future. Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel builds its story around companionship, loss, and the pursuit of truth.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • For readers interested in stories about friendship across human and animal lines.
  • For those drawn to family mysteries involving a long-ago disappearance.
  • For readers who enjoy novels exploring grief, memory, and new possibilities.

Themes

FriendshipGrief and lossFamily and memoryUnresolved disappearanceHope and the future

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Now a Netflix Film

A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF SUMMER by: Chicago Tribune * The View * Southern Living * USA Today

"Remarkably Bright Creatures [is] an ultimately feel-good but deceptively sensitive debut. . . . Memorable and tender." -- Washington Post

For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope that traces a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus

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.

Shipping & returnsShipping options, delivery timing, and our return policy.

In-stock items normally dispatch within 1–2 business days. The ZIP-code estimator on this page is informational only; the final shipping method, price, and availability are confirmed at checkout for your full order.

For the initial delivery estimate we use these transit windows after dispatch: Standard 5–8 business days, Expedited 2–4 business days, and Priority 1–2 business days. Holiday delays are not included.

Eligible items can be returned within 30 days in accordance with our return policy.

Customer reviews