Remarkably Bright Creatures: Character List

Tova Sullivan

One of the story’s protagonists. Tova is a seventy-year-old woman who spends her free time working as a cleaner at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. She is stoic and reserved, internally wracked with grief over the untimely deaths of her son and husband. Tova often refuses help from others, but knows how to take care of herself and recognizes her own limits. She forms a deep bond with Marcellus the octopus, whose life she saves multiple times.

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Cameron Cassmore

One of the story’s protagonists. Cameron is a thirty-year-old construction worker who considers himself highly intelligent despite his inability to hold a job and his come-and-go reliance on others for money and housing. Proud, determined, and unhappy with his lot in life, Cameron goes to Sowell Bay to find his lost father and demand that he pay Cameron retroactive child support.

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Marcellus

Sowell Bay Aquarium’s giant Pacific octopus. Marcellus’s voice is ironic and witty, and lively, even though he is resigned to living out the rest of his life in his tank. His commentary on the lives of humans guides the story’s plot and slowly reveals the mystery behind Erik’s death. Marcellus grows fond of Tova, and tries to do all he can to help her heal from her grief.

Aunt Jeanne

Cameron’s aunt, and Daphne Cassmore’s decade-older sister. Aunt Jeanne is a feisty woman determined to continue living in a trailer park despite Cameron’s protests. She applied for sole custody of Cameron when his mother walked out, and raised him alone. She avidly believes in Cameron and always has his back.

Erik

Tova’s son who died in a mysterious boating accident in 1989, when he was eighteen years old. His death is ruled by the authorities as a suicide, but Tova doesn’t believe it.

Will

Tova’s husband, who died of cancer forty-seven years into their marriage.

Ethan Mack

Owner of Shop-Way. Ethan is a Scottish immigrant known for being the keeper and sharer of all of Sowell Bay’s gossip. He is in love with Tova, who for a long time remains oblivious to his flirtations. An extremely generous man, he looks out for Tova and Cameron throughout the story.

Terry

The director of Sowell Bay Aquarium. Terry is forthright but kind, a supporter of both Cameron and Tova. Raised on a fishing boat in Kingston, Jamaica, he is a passionate and knowledgeable marine biologist.

Avery

Owner of the Sowell Bay Paddle Shop who Cameron begins to date upon moving to Sowell Bay. She got pregnant in high school and moved to Sowell Bay from Seattle when her son, Marco, was ten. Cameron admires her toughness and socioeconomic independence.

Janice Kim

One of the Knit-Wits. Janice is attentive and kind, often offering assistance to an unreceptive Tova.

Barb Vanderhoof

One of the Knit-Wits. Barb is raunchy and nosy, but a fellow widow and one of Tova’s closest friends.

Mary Ann Minetti

One of the Knit-Wits. Mary Ann is Christian and proper, a bit uptight but a caring friend to Tova.

Elizabeth

Cameron’s best friend from childhood. She is now pregnant and married to Brad, but is still Cameron’s main source of emotional support.

Brad

Cameron’s other best friend from childhood, and the lead singer in their band, Moth Sausage. Brad is often the person Cameron calls when he needs help, as when he needs to be picked up from his ex-girlfriend's house after being dumped.

Simon Brinks

The man Cameron believes to be his father, based on a high school yearbook picture of Simon and his mother taken around the time Cameron would have been conceived. A real estate tycoon, he is not what Cameron expects.

Katie

Cameron’s ex-girlfriend, who dumps him early on in the story after he gets fired from yet another job. She is self-sufficient and proud.

Adam Wright

A man who knew Erik in high school before Erik’s death. Adam is the one who holds the missing piece of the book’s mystery, revealing that Erik was in fact with Daphne Cassmore the night he died.

Lars

Tova’s estranged brother, a resident of Charter Village who dies near the beginning of the book.

Daphne Cassmore

Cameron’s mother, who left Cameron in the care of her sister Jeanne when Cameron was nine years old. The only thing Cameron really knows about her is that she struggled with addiction.

Cat

A gray cat that turns up at Tova’s house one day. She feeds him and lets him live with her; he becomes a pleasant companion.

Dr. Peter Kim

Janice Kim’s husband, a retired doctor.

Jessica Snell

A realtor in Sowell Bay. She gives Cameron information on Simon Brinks, and helps Tova to sell her house.

Laura

Mary Anne’s daughter.

Sandy Hewitt

Adam Wright’s partner.

Marco

Avery’s fifteen-year-old son.

Old Al

The bartender at Dell’s Saloon. Old Al is generous with Cameron’s tab but refuses to rent out his empty room when Cameron begs for a place to stay.

Elliot

An uppity man Cameron meets while waiting in line to retrieve his lost luggage at the airport in Seattle.

Papa

Tova’s father, a builder.

Mama

Tova’s mother, a poised woman who is both strict and loving.

Dr. Santiago

A veterinarian who treats the animals at Sowell Bay Aquarium.

Tanner

Ethan Mack’s only employee at Shop-Way, an incompetent worker and sullen teenage boy.

Wally Perkins

Aunt Jeanne’s romantic interest, another resident of the trailer park.

The Walrus

A passenger Tova meets as a child while immigrating from Sweden to the U.S. He teaches her how to play card games, and to expect the unexpected.

Omar

A waiter at the Elland Chophouse who serves Tova’s table at Mary Anne’s going away party.

Jimmy Delmonico

Aunt Jeanne’s landlord.

Bruce LaRue

Lars’s attorney. He advises Tova to visit Charter Village and pick up her brother’s belongings.

Timothy

Janice Kim’s son.

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