Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

So, I went down an internet octopus rabbit hole, which I highly recommend if you have some time to kill. Watching it, I thought to myself, there’s a character in there. The creature was so determined, and almost seemed condescending, somehow, of the folks trying to thwart him. I got the idea to write him after watching a giant Pacific octopus try repeatedly to escape its enclosure in an internet video. Oh, Marcellus was so much fun to write! I guess I must’ve been a grouchy old man in a past life, because his voice came quite naturally to me. Where did the idea come from to write from his perspective, and did you find integrating an octopus’s voice into the story challenging? Some of the most striking sections, of course, are the interludes from the perspective of Marcellus. This is such a delightful read about families, connection, and navigating life’s complications. Van Pelt was kind enough to answer our questions about her delightful book.

An added bonus? It’s set in our beloved Puget Sound. And they’re all connected by a mystery that only the octopus has been able to solve. There’s a smart, wily octopus named Marcellus a woman looking for connection after the recent loss of her husband a grocery store owner with a crush and an adult “lost boy” just looking for somewhere to belong.

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel, Remarkably Bright Creatures, is so fun and sweet and just the right amount of surreal.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt