by Deborah Rogers –
Our stellar turnout for July’s meeting included a volunteer from Sidney’s Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea, and we were very grateful for her insider knowledge about the inhabitants of our local waters. We were discussing Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, and one of the main characters is a giant Pacific octopus. Yes, Marcellus takes centre stage in this tender story about loss and self-discovery, set in a small seaside town in the Pacific Northwest.
It’s a rare thing in the Book Club world to find universal positive reactions to a book, but Van Pelt’s debut novel had a lot of love from our readers. Of course, once we started discussing it there were various threads and details that our readers picked at, but on the whole Remarkably Bright Creatures felt like the fun book we had all been waiting for.
Marcellus’ story is set alongside that of Tova, a woman who feels she is reaching the end of her usefulness. At 70 she has seen the loss of her child and her husband, and as the story starts, her last remaining relative, her brother. Tova’s life has narrowed to a dwindling group of friends (who seem to annoy her more than anything) and her night-shift cleaning job at the aquarium.
Marcellus is also nearing the end. He knows that the lifespan of a giant Pacific octopus is short, and he’s counting down the probable days he has left. Octopuses really are very intelligent creatures, and the character is perceptive and intuitive. He reads the humans that pass through his world and starts to intervene, with Tova’s life in particular.
It was the relationship between Tova and Marcellus that drove the story and brought the book to life. Interwoven with it was California-slacker Cameron’s journey, with its elements of mystery and shots at redemption; and to some extent the life and history of the small town was a character too.
There are several themes running through the book: of death (or loss) and of the nature of captivity and the way humans can trap themselves. With the help of some handy coincidences the storylines get tied together very satisfactorily. Throughout, Van Pelt gives readers great imagery, of the Pacific Northwest, and of the creatures who live there. We all felt that we could do with a Marcellus in our lives!
For August we will be reading and discussing Love Marriage by Monica Ali. Join us at our meeting on Tuesday August 7, 6:30 p.m. at the Sidney/North Saanich Library. Sign up to our email list to stay up-to-date with what we’re reading next:
www.seasidemagazine.ca/book-club/.
