A NEW YORK TIMES MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK • An enchanting novel about Ro a woman tossed overboard
by heartbreak and loss who has to find her way back to stable shores with the help of a giant
Pacific octopus at the mall aquarium where she works. “Immersively beautiful.... A
kaleidoscope of originality." —Weike Wang acclaimed author of Joan is Okay Ro is stuck.
She's just entered her thirties she's estranged from her mother and her boyfriend has just
left her to join a mission to Mars. Her days are spent dragging herself to her menial job at
the aquarium and her nights are spent drinking sharktinis (Mountain Dew and copious amounts of
gin plus a hint of jalapeño). With her best friend pulling away to focus on her upcoming
wedding Ro's only companion is Dolores a giant Pacific octopus who also happens to be Ro's
last remaining link to her father a marine biologist who disappeared while on an expedition
when Ro was a teenager. When Dolores is sold to a wealthy investor intent on moving her to a
private aquarium Ro finds herself on the precipice of self-destruction. Wading through
memories of her youth Ro realizes she can either lose herself in the undertow of reminiscence
or finally come to terms with her childhood trauma recommit to those around her and find her
place in an ever-changing world.
