Registration requested.

Summer joint book club meeting with the Cresskill Library Book Club. Held at the Cresskill Library.

Copies of the book available at the Circulation Desk.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

In the sleepy town of Sowell Bay, Washington, Tova Sullivan stands on the precipice of a new life. There’s nothing left for her in her childhood home. Her husband is dead, and her son Erik drowned many years ago. With her grief threatening to consume her, Tova considers how she’s going to move on while finding comfort in her job at the local aquarium. She’s made friends with an intelligent octopus, Marcellus, who also provides his perspective on the matter. Especially adept at crawling out of his tank, Marcellus is searching for meaning as he comes to terms with the end of his own short life. Additionally, readers meet Cameron Cassmore, a Californian in Sowell Bay looking for his lost father, and Ethan Mack, a grocery-store owner who fancies Tova. As her involvement with both men deepens, Tova questions her intention to leave. Tova’s gentle relationship with Marcellus is the heart of Van Pelt’s debut. The octopus’ point of view, though unusual, brings a magical haze to the novel, even as Tova and Marcellus realize their story is coming to an end. (Booklist Online review April 8, 2022.)