This charming novel seems to be about a rather unlikely alliance between a captive giant octopus, nearing the end of his days and an elderly woman. But there is also a young man searching for his father. I couldn’t quite work it out, at first. But it's an intriguing, sad, funny, heart-warming, maybe slightly over the top story - and certainly one of a kind!
'You knew, didn’t you?' she says to Marcellus in the bucket. 'Of course you did.' She leans down and touches his mantle again. 'You’re so much more intelligent than we humans give you credit for.'
Marcellus lays the tip of one of his arms across the back of her hand.
Tova crumples to the ground again, this time propping her elbows on the rim of the bucket. Once the hot, fast tears start spilling, she’s powerless to stop them. Droplets pelt the surface as her thin shoulders heave, falling faster with each monstrous sob. No one is here. No one is looking. Throwing caution away, she allows the grief to course through her. Finally, the tears slow to a trickle, punctuated by hiccups. Her eyeballs feel hot and dry.
