Syd Montgomery introduced me to the concept that octopus have a lot going on intellectually when she shared her memories of those that she met as a volunteer at an aquarium. I have trouble ordering it any more even though I love it because, as my spouse has said, the ocean gets a little bit dumber when an octopus leaves it.
This book opens with the observations of a captive octopus who ties together the stories that run through this slightly corny, very heartwarming book about the nature of grief. It opens with Tova, a 70-year-old woman, a life-long resident of Sowell Bay, Washington, and a night-shift aquarium employee. Tova loves the solitude and peace she finds in lovingly cleaning every nook and cranny of the aquarium after hours, saying a quiet hello to each animal on display as she cleans the glass of their enclosures and wipes the floor.
Tova does not actually have to work for a living — she’s a widow with enough funds to living comfortably in her house and not worry about her financial situation. However, she’s also a deeply sad and lonely person. She and the octopus she has come to love are both preparing for their upcoming deaths, in markedly different ways, but with an eyes wide open approach to what they are facing. That said, that several characters are dying and loss is at the center, it is not a sad book. It is whimsical and wise, and therefore makes thinking about the unbearable bearable.
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