About the Book
The 25th anniversary of One Read is here! This year’s selection, “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt follows a delightful cast of characters who embark in unlikely friendships while navigating life’s complexities.
At 70 years old, Tova lives alone in her childhood home and cleans the local Sowell Bay Aquarium each night to keep busy and enjoy the quiet company of the sea creatures. Her story collides with that of Cameron, a chronically unemployed hard-luck case, abandoned by his mother at the age of nine, who has travelled to town in search of the father he never knew. Meanwhile, a giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus helps Tova uncover the truth about her son’s mysterious death by drowning 30 years ago. An unlikely and charming friendship is at the center of this heartwarming novel about grief, family, navigating the life changes that come with aging and the intelligence of the animal world.
About the Author
Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Shelby Van Pelt lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her family. “Remarkably Bright Creatures,” her first novel, was an instant New York Times Bestseller. In 2023, she was awarded the Heartland Prize for Fiction and the McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns First Novel Prize from The Writer’s Center.
Biographical information and author photo courtesy of https://shelbyvanpelt.com/.