Tova Sullivan is over 70, but still works as a janitor at a local aquarium, mostly to fill time. She has been widowed for a few years, and the solitude of the night shift suits her. She morns her late husband but is haunted by the disappearance of her then teenage son 14 years earlier. The police called his death a suicide, but she has never believed it. She talks about her troubles to the fish in the aquarium as she cleans, never knowing that one of the aquatic residents understands her and wants to help. Marcellus, a giant Pacific Octopus is more intelligent than any human would guess, and watches with interest the unexpected friendship between Tova and the new maintenance kid, Cameron. Then there is Ethan, the Scotch grocery story owner, the Knit Wits, Tova's gossip group, and Alex, the young owner of the paddle board shop. They are all terribly lonely and Marcellus can end all of the loneliness, if he could only find a way to get through to them.
When you have read 1,100 books in 11 years, it isn't often when you find a book that is both unique and really good. Such an one is this book. The characters are richly drawn, totally sympathetic and believably flawed. Van Pelt manages just the right mixture of sweetness and sadness and Tova faces the hard decisions that come with aging without close family support. Cameron's search for his unknown father is both tender and endearing. It is strange to have one of the POV characters be a giant octopus, but his supercilious voice was one of the best parts of the book. It reminds me of Bartimaeus from the book of the same name. I will be recommending this book to my friends who like A Man Called Ove and Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. (My only dilemma is trying to choose a genre heading for it, besides, or course, "starred":). (2022, 368 p)
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