Shelby Van Pelt – författare

Amerikansk succédebut!

- New York Times bästsäljarlista i över femtio veckor

- Nominerad till både Best Debut Novel och Best Fiction 2022 av Goodreads

- A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!

Tova har tagit jobb som städare på stadens akvarium för att ha något att göra. Hennes make har gått bort och annars träffar hon mest sina enerverande väninnor på tråkiga kafferep. Med mopp och hink rengör Tova akvariets lokaler efter stängning iakttagen av de vattenlevande varelserna. Där finns den åttaarmade bläckfisken Marcellus som hon är särskilt fäst vid. Samtidigt kommer den unge Cameron till stan, på jakt efter sin pappa. När Tova råkar halka och skada foten får Cameron ta över hennes nattliga städjobb. Vad varken Tova eller Cameron förstår är att bläckfisken Marcellus döljer många hemligheter i sitt akvarium - han vet vad som hände när Tovas son försvann.

Den hjärtevärmande "Sällsynt kloka varelser" handlar om vänskap och hopp, om att försonas med det förflutna och att leva i nuet. Boken kommer som film på Netflix 2026 med Sally Field i rollen som Tova.

"Med sina ömsinta karaktärsbeskrivningar, lågmälda humor och lättsamma prosa är den helt enkelt perfekt till sommarens hängmatta." UNT

"... läsvärd roman som är både finstämd och mysig. En bok som berör på djupet." Vestmanlands Läns Tidning

Amerikansk succédebut!

- New York Times bästsäljarlista i över femtio veckor

- Nominerad till både Best Debut Novel och Best Fiction 2022 av Goodreads

- A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!

Tova har tagit jobb som städare på stadens akvarium för att ha något att göra. Hennes make har gått bort och annars träffar hon mest sina enerverande väninnor på tråkiga kafferep. Med mopp och hink rengör Tova akvariets lokaler efter stängning iakttagen av de vattenlevande varelserna. Där finns den åttaarmade bläckfisken Marcellus som hon är särskilt fäst vid. Samtidigt kommer den unge Cameron till stan, på jakt efter sin pappa. När Tova råkar halka och skada foten får Cameron ta över hennes nattliga städjobb. Vad varken Tova eller Cameron förstår är att bläckfisken Marcellus döljer många hemligheter i sitt akvarium - han vet vad som hände när Tovas son försvann.

Den hjärtevärmande "Sällsynt kloka varelser" handlar om vänskap och hopp, om att försonas med det förflutna och att leva i nuet. Boken kommer som film på Netflix 2026 med Sally Field i rollen som Tova.

"Med sina ömsinta karaktärsbeskrivningar, lågmälda humor och lättsamma prosa är den helt enkelt perfekt till sommarens hängmatta." UNT

"... läsvärd roman som är både finstämd och mysig. En bok som berör på djupet." Vestmanlands Läns Tidning

This deluxe edition features sprayed and stenciled edges, silver foil, and a reading group guide.

A New York Times Bestseller * A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick

Soon to be a Netflix Film

"Remarkably Bright Creatures [is] an ultimately feel-good but deceptively sensitive debut. . . . Memorable and tender." --Washington Post 

A charming, witty and compulsively readable 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.

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Soon to be a Netflix Film

A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF SUMMER by: Chicago Tribune * The View * Southern Living * USA Today

“Remarkably Bright Creatures [is] an ultimately feel-good but deceptively sensitive debut. . . . Memorable and tender.” — Washington Post 

For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively readable 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.

A New York Times Bestseller!

A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!

“Remarkably Bright Creatures is a beautiful examination of how loneliness can be transformed, cracked open, with the slightest touch from another living thing.” -- Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here

For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively readable 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.

Soon to be a Netflix Film

Featuring a New Essay by Shelby Van Pelt About the Film Set

A New York Times Bestseller * A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick

“Remarkably Bright Creatures [is] an ultimately feel-good but deceptively sensitive debut about what it feels like to have love taken away from you, only to find it again in the most unexpected places. . . . Memorable and tender.” — Washington Post

“Completely charming.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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 mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a brilliant, giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a 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.