Remarkably Bright Creatures

Shelby Van Pelt grew up an only child in Tacoma, Washington. After high school, she moved to Southern California to attend Claremont McKenna College, where she studied politics, philosophy, and economics. She spent nearly a decade working as a financial consultant before shifting gears to pursue fiction writing. Van Pelt began developing the voice of Marcellus—the wily octopus at the heart of her debut novel—at a writing workshop through Emory University. Remarkably Bright Creatures was published in 2022 and became an instant New York Times bestseller. The book earned widespread critical praise and won the 2023 McLaughlin-Esstman-Stearns First Novel Prize from The Writer’s Center. Van Pelt now lives in Chicago with her husband, Drew, and their two children, where she continues to write.

Remarkably Bright Creatures doesn’t center on a major historical moment, but it gestures toward the significance of personal and cultural history through Tova’s memories of immigrating to the United States from Sweden as a child. Scandinavian immigration to the U.S. peaked around the early-20th century and continued through the mid-20th century. Many Swedes left rural areas during this time due to limited economic opportunity and a desire for greater social mobility. The U.S. promised steady work, especially in the industrial and maritime sectors of the Pacific Northwest, where many Scandinavian immigrants settled. Like these immigrants, Tova’s family likely arrived in search of opportunity and stability, carrying with them traditions that helped instill a sense of home in a new country. One of the most enduring symbols of her Swedish heritage is the Dala Horse—a hand-carved, brightly painted wooden figure originating from the Dalarna region of Sweden. Once a simple children’s toy, the Dala Horse became a national symbol after it was featured in the 1939 World’s Fair in New York as a representation of Swedish craftsmanship and resilience.

Remarkably Bright Creatures explores the power of unlikely friendship and personal reinvention. Readers drawn to these concepts may enjoy Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett, which follows Emma, a young woman returning home to care for her dying father. Like Cameron in Van Pelt’s novel, Emma begins her narrative lost and unmoored, and the book’s blending of interpersonal drama with a long-buried mystery tells a similarly moving, effective story about grief and healing. Colleen Oakley’s The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise centers the bond between a reclusive elderly woman and a disillusioned 20-something forced into her life as a caregiver. As with Tova and Cameron, their uneasy partnership evolves into a surprising and transformative friendship. Van Pelt has also cited renowned authors John Irving and Kazuo Ishiguro as personal influences. Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany echoes Van Pelt’s fascination with destiny and memory, while also featuring idiosyncratic, deeply memorable characters. Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, while more somber in tone, similarly explores themes of loss, identity, and lives shaped by unseen forces. Both novels share the emotional richness and thoughtful pacing that characterize Remarkably Bright Creatures.