The Charming, Witty, and Compulsively Readable BBC Radio Two Book Club Pick
English language
Published July 10, 2022 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night cleaner shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Ever since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat over thirty years ago keeping busy has helped her cope. One night she meets Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium who sees everything, 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 body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late...
One night, Tova helps Marcellus, unaware of the ensuing ripple effects.
Though very predictable, this interwoven tale of a group of 70-something women, a shop keep with a crush, an orphan of sorts, and a Giant Pacific Octopus is quite sweet. I liked the characters and enjoyed reading about fundamentally kind people who care about each other. Not Great Literature, but soothing. TL:DR Needs more Marcellus.
If you want a sense of the depth of this book, it's basically a re-imagined for adults version of Adam Sandler's "Leo" kids movie. Not sure which actually came first, but either way, neither is particularly deep and both involve lots of Deus ex Machina moments.
I got some chuckles out if it along the way, but the characters don't face any complex challenges or grow in any interesting ways other than to magically shed their flaws.
The solid writing makes it a nice casual read when there's nothing else to do?
Up-lit with an octopus. I liked the chapters from Marcellus and the interactions between him and Tova, but the rest of the story just wasn't my thing. Very sentimental, but I can see why others like it so much.
