Author: Shelby Van Pelt
Narrator: Marin Ireland, Michael Urie
Publisher: Harper Audio
Publication Date: May 2022
Genre: General Fiction
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible
Description: For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively listenable 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.
My Thoughts: How do I begin to convey the magic and beauty of this story? To review it in such a way that my thoughts clearly illustrate how I felt about this book without giving away the entire plot? Initially, like many people, I suspect, I had some reservations about reading a story where the main character is a giant Pacific octopus living in an aquarium. What could this story really tell me and not ever being a fan of these animals, I was not overly motivated to find out. At least that was my initial reaction when a fellow bookworm recommended this book to me.
Call it divine intervention but when I came across the book at my church’s book sale, I was moved to pick it up, buy it and bring it home. I still wasn’t eager to read it. Looking back, my only excuse was with so many books waiting to be reviewed, adding another book to my to be read mountain seemed unnecessary, but that has never stopped me from continually adding titles. Without even realizing how or why, I decided I needed to read this book and putting it off was not an option.
This story is about so much more than an octopus named Marcellus who spends his days in abject boredom in a tank in an aquarium. He refers to these days as his days of captivity. This is also a story about so much more than an elderly woman named Tova who works at the aquarium. She’s a widow and her only child disappeared over thirty years ago. She has friends and stays busy but her loneliness was very apparent to me. Lastly, this is a story about so much more than Cameron, a young man who comes to Sowell Bay looking for the father who abandoned him and his mother. His life has been going nowhere. He can’t hold down a job and his girlfriend kicked him out. Living on his best friend’s couch indefinitely is not an option either.
Friendships develop between Marcellus and Tova. When Cameron gets a temporary job at the aquarium to fill in for Tova after she strains her ankle, an unlikely friendship forms between Cameron and Tova, who takes it upon herself to show Cameron the ropes.
But it isn’t even about the friendships. You see, Marcellus is not just your run of the mill octopus living in his tank looking back at the multitude of faces looking at him day in and day out. Marcellus is smart. He escapes his tank on a regular basis to help himself to the sea cucumbers and other marine morsels as his diet at the aquarium is less than satisfying. He also finds items in the aquarium and collects them, hiding them for safekeeping. Marcellus knows things. He’s very perceptive. He also knows he’s nearing the end of his life and wants his new friend Tova to know what he knows.
This story completely blew me away. I laughed and I cried. Then, I laughed and I cried some more. For a debut novel, Shelby Van Pelt authors a story that flows so well and completely touches the heart of the reader. I paired the reading of this book with the audio format and I adored the narration performed by Marin Ireland and Michael Urie. They gave a voice to characters who were already so deftly drawn but hearing Marcellus’s point of view was truly wonderful.
My Final Verdict: Don’t make the mistake I did of putting off reading this book. My perception about the octopus has changed drastically. These are amazing animals, highly intelligent and should be revered and protected.
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