Shelby Van Pelt says she imagined the stoic older protagonist of her 2022 bestselling debut novel, Remarkably Bright Creatures (Bloomsbury), as very “Sally Field-like”. “I am a very visual person, so I cast my characters while I am writing them,” she says over a Zoom call. Perhaps that is why she sounds so delighted that the Academy Award-winning actor herself plays Tova Sullivan — the quiet, reserved cleaner at a local aquarium — in the recent Netflix adaptation of the novel. “I think she [Field] actually got hold of the novel, even before it was published… She read it and expressed an interest in playing the part. So, she was informally attached to it from a really early stage,” adds Van Pelt.

The book follows the tender bond between Tova and a Houdiniesque giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus. Running alongside is the story of Cameron, a young drifter who soon comes under Tova’s care, as both their pasts and family histories begin to surface. Through it all, the old, judgmental yet oddly adorable Marcellus emerges as the novel’s emotional centre — observing human frailty with wit, melancholy and surprising tenderness. What gives Remarkably Bright Creatures much of its sentimental resonance, Van Pelt suggests, is the quiet intimacy of human-animal bonds: the idea that animals can offer empathy and even help in their own way. Edited excerpts:

Q: One of the things that really struck me was how much Tova seemed to open up to animals. What, in your opinion, makes human-animal relationships so special?

A: As a cat owner (of two cats), I certainly relate to that. They are my favourite creatures to be around when I am upset, because they are just there. I don’t know what’s going on in their brains, but as a human being who sometimes just needs someone to listen, I think animals often fulfil that role for us.

Tova has a lot of people around her — her friends, the Knit-Wits, Ethan, the grocer… basically, this whole little town kind of wants to be there for her. But she’s afraid to open up to them because she feels like every time she does, people start trying to meddle and fix her, and it’s just too much. She doesn’t want to invite these people into her life and have them start messing around.

It is with Marcellus and her cat that she starts to open up a little bit because she realises she can just tell her story, and this animal is here, seemingly expressing empathy, without meddling. They’re not trying to fix her, but just listening, without judgment. And sometimes that is the first step in working through something: just saying the thing out loud.

Q: There have been many videos, books and documentaries about octopuses in the last few years. Given that one of its primary characters is an octopus, your book, it seems, has almost become part of the zeitgeist.

A: It feels almost quaint now because so many animal videos on the Internet are just AI-generated slop. But there was a time when you could see a video of something and feel no scepticism, only wonder, and so I went down the octopus rabbit hole on YouTube.

I was trying to teach myself how to write fiction, something I had never done before or had any training in. But I knew I was a good nonfiction writer, so I thought maybe I could give creative writing a go. The real problem was that I didn’t know what to write about and was constantly looking for inspiration. Then I found these octopus videos online, and the voice popped into my head, almost as if I were narrating them as I watched. I knew, pretty clearly, that this was a voice that was really fun, and I wanted to explore more.

The documentary, My Octopus Teacher, was released right as I was pitching my novel to agents. So I couldn’t have timed that better if I tried; I was just lucky. I think the octopuses are just having a moment, and I feel so fortunate to have sort of been a part of that somehow. But it wasn’t like I was trying to capitalise on this thing that’s popular. I just got lucky.

Q: While Tova and Marcellus are dealing with very different challenges, there is something uncannily similar about the claustrophobia they are both experiencing. Can you talk more about this?

A: Well, Marcellus is stuck because he is in captivity, while Tova is stuck in her, sort of, acceptance of the way her life has been. I took a lot of inspiration from my grandmother when I was writing Tova: she was very much a woman who kept busy all the time, puttering around the house, cleaning everything. And when she reached a point where she couldn’t do those things anymore because she was ageing, it was very hard for her to face the loss of that independence.

Similarly, when Tova sees that change is coming, she first sort of tries to run away from it. But as the story unfolds, she decides to do the harder work of allowing herself to be vulnerable, allowing the people she loves to help her, and really building this community in place of the one she’s been keeping at arm’s length for so long.

Q: Could you discuss the small-town setting, which is such a crucial aspect of this novel?

A: I love writing about small towns. I feel it’s almost like an author cheat code, in a way. It just does some of the work for you, of keeping that tension in, especially when you have characters who have secrets, characters who are trying to avoid one another for whatever reason. It’s like the tension is already there.

There is also something almost claustrophobic about this town, in particular. It feels different from, say, a small town in a big, open prairie, because of where it’s located in the Pacific Northwest. You are almost trapped in a little forest bubble between the ocean and the big trees, and the mountains. It was such a delicious atmosphere for me. That is where I grew up, so it was very fun.

preeti.zachariah@thehindu.co.in