The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus
A Novel
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4.1 • 16 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT #1 BESTSELLER
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 GILLER PRIZE
A witty, warm and brilliantly told debut that is at once a love story, a story of female friendship and motherhood, and an irresistible mystery surrounding an extraordinary British family.
Arriving at the University of Edinburgh for her first term, Pen knows her divorced parents back in Canada are hiding something from her. She believes she’ll find the answer here in Scotland, where an old friend of her father’s—now a famous writer known as Lord Lennox—lives. When she is invited to spend the weekend at Lord Lennox’s centuries-old estate with his enveloping, intriguing family, Pen begins to unravel her parents’ secret and to fall in love for the first time...
Her best friend, Alice, an aspiring actor, is starring in a university production and making the most of the feminine power she wields—until a tryst with her tutor threatens to spin out of control.
As Pen experiences the sharp shock of adulthood, she uncovers the truth about her own family and comes to rely on herself for the first time in her life. A rich and rewarding novel of campus life, of sexual awakening, and ultimately, of the many ways women can become mothers in this world, The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus asks to what extent we need to look back in order to move forward.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cookbook author Knight (How to Eat with One Hand) makes her fiction debut with a touching tale of a student's romantic entanglements and family secrets. Penelope "Pen" Elliot Winters arrives at the University of Edinburgh from Toronto. While in Scotland, she looks up aristocrat Elliot Lennox, from whom she believes her parents derived her middle name. Her father, Ted, was friends with Elliot and Elliot's sister, Margot, at university, and Elliot now lives with his wife, Christina, at their crumbling family castle, while Margot is a fashion designer in London. Elliot and Christina invite Pen to their estate, where she meets their oldest son, Sasha, who is frequently in the tabloids as he finishes his final year at St. Andrews, and with whom Pen feels an instant attraction. As Pen frets over her virginity and worries what others think of her, she grows closer to the entire Lennox clan, including Margot's daughter and grandson. But after a second trip to the castle ends with the cold shoulder from Sasha and revelations about their families' connections, Pen confronts her naivety and tries to "make peace with herself." Though the cast is a bit too crowded, making the story hard to follow, Pen's intelligence and charm carry the reader along. The result is a satisfying coming-of-age story.
