Marcellus, our narrator, is a Giant Pacific Octopus, who starts off the novel on “Day 1,299 of Captivity in the Sowell Bay Aquarium”. From his most private spot in his small tank he shares his distain of the chaotic species of humans looking in. He understands all their dialogue-from the pushy father wanting his son to fulfill his dreams of being an athlete to the Aquarium Manager Terry who is chronically underestimating his intelligence. The only exception is Tova, the remarkable cleaning woman who comes at night and shares her life with Marcellus.

In Modesto, California, Cameron Cassmore has yet again lost his job and been kicked out of his girlfriend’s apartment. Cameron sees this as yet another step in his long line of abandonments, beginning with his mother who left him to stay with her sister Jeanne and never returned. Now 30, Cameron’s support network consists of his Aunt, who ended up raising him, and his high school friends Elizabeth and Brad, who are about to have their first baby. Cameron stays on Brad and Elizabeth’s couch, trying to figure out where to go next and reluctantly starts going through a box of his mother’s belongings which Aunt Jeanne has foisted on him. Hidden beneath a large clump of scrunchies he finds a photograph of his mother with a man named Simon Brinks. The photo is wrapped around a high school ring. Cameron is sure Brinks is his father and tracks to the Seattle area.

Van Pelt brings these two narratives together through a touching bit of matchmaking by Marcellus. When Cameron starts covering Tova’s shift Marcellus immediately notices the connection between the two and starts taking pains in his secretive nighttime escapes from his tank to make them see it as well. Remarkably Bright Creatures is a remarkable first novel and beautiful tale about families we choose and those we cannot escape from. I give this book 4👍out of 5👍.