**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**
AMAZON'S #1 BOOK OF 2022 SO FAR
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GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BEST BOOKS OF 2022
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'Full of heart and humour . . . I loved it.' Ruth Hogan
'Will stay with you for a long time.' Anstey Harris
'I defy you to put it down once you've started' Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
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...
Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.
'You won't be able to put it down because when you're not reading this book you'll be hugging it.' Jamie Ford
'Truly original and touching' Helen Hoang
'Unique and luminous' Booklist starred review
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READER REVIEWS
'I couldn't put it down'
'Marvelous, heartwarming, brilliant'
'I enjoyed every second'
'I was gripped from the first page'
'I was completely charmed by this story'
Infused with heartfelt humor, Van Pelt's elegant portrait of a widowed woman who finds understanding and connection with a clever octopus is refreshingly, if surprisingly, relatable. Despite the unorthodox relationship at its core, the debut novel offers a wholly original meditation on grief and the bonds that keep us afloat
