& CULTURE Ar s

TWO HEARTWARMING MODERN NOVELS:

Times bestseller last summer, it was a “Read with Jenna” selection.

Marcellus, the octopus, narrates his own point of view in the opening chapters and throughout, and it’s his voice more than the others’ that captivates. He lives in a small public aquarium in a fictional small town near Puget Sound.

Remarkably Bright Creatures

by Shelby Van Pelt (2022)

Ahardworking widow, a down-onhis-luck loner, a Scottish grocer, and a brilliant Giant Pacific Octopus comprise the unlikely, but irresistibly engaging characters in Van Pelt’s debut novel. An instant New York

Tova, the widow who fastidiously cleans the aquarium nightly, forms a bond with Marcellus. She has lost her beloved husband to cancer and her only son to presumed suicide. Although she has friends her own age (the “knit wits”), it’s her connection to Marcellus that commands the heart of the narrative. The other characters are “icing on the cake.” It’s a deliciously charming novel. Treat yourself to this one.

All The Broken Places

by John Boyne (2022)

Irish author Boyne revisits the characters of his 2006 novella, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, for this sequel. That one ends as the family leaves Auschwitz, where Gretel and Bruno’s father was commandant. (Broken Places is not a “holocaust novel” though, and you wouldn’t need to have read Striped Pajamas to enjoy this welltold tale. There’s a 2008 film version available on Prime if you want to watch it).

Boyne’s narrative features two storylines, alternating between the 91-year-old Gretel in present-day posh London and the teen to 20-something Gretel who flees her wartime past in the 1940s. The plot poses the question as to whether children must answer for the crimes of their parents. Boyne masters the dual plots, but doesn’t tell the reader what judgment to pass. Gretel’s neighbors in a prestigious Mayfair building form the compelling subplots and twists in the story. The two audio readers (one old, one young) do a fabulous job. Both ring as true as the best actors on screen and the 12 hours of audio fly by.