The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus
A Novel
Published on 7. January 2025
352 pages
978-0-7352-4873-1 (ISBN)
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.
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.
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EMMA KNIGHT's debut novel The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus is a Read with Jenna pick, a Giller Prize finalist, a New York Times bestseller and an instant #1 Canadian bestseller. She is a co-founder of Greenhouse, an award-winning Canadian beverage company, and has co-authored two nationally bestselling cookbooks, The Greenhouse Cookbook (2017) and How to Eat with One Hand(2021). Her essays have appeared in a number of Canadian and international publications. Emma lives in Toronto with her husband and two daughters.
