Characters with Compelling Perspectives

Throughout 2022 I’ve kept track of the books I’ve read. I’m doing it in a Word document, adding one short paragraph per book. Just enough detail to remind me of what I liked about it (or didn’t like) and what I thought was done well (or not). (If you’re curious, check out The Benefits of Tracking What I Read, Part I and Part II.)

Many novels on my list have compelling characters and unique voices, but two stand out in particular for me because they offer perspectives I’ve never read before—those of an octopus and a DeafBlind man in

• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

• The Sign for Home by Blair Fell

Both are adult contemporary novels and both are first novels, published in 2022.

Adult contemporary is not a category I naturally gravitate toward, but this is an example of why reading in many genres and age groups, not just the ones you want to write in, can help you fill your creative well and learn more about the market.

Remarkably Bright Creatures begins with the octopus, who’s telling his story in first person. He’s living at an aquarium and is not one bit happy about it. Here’s a snippet from the beginning:

Day 1,299 of My Captivity

Darkness suits me.

Each evening, I await the click of the overhead lights, leaving only the glow from the main tank. Not perfect, but close enough.

Almost-darkness, like the middle-bottom of the sea. I lived there before I was captured and imprisoned. I cannot remember, yet I can still taste the untamed currents of the cold open water. Darkness runs through my blood.

Who am I, you ask? My name is Marcellus, but most humans do not call me that. Typically, they call me that guy. For example: Look at that guy—there he is—you can just see his tentacles behind the rock.

I am a giant Pacific octopus. I know this from the plaque on the wall beside my enclosure.

I know what you are thinking. Yes, I can read. I can do many things you would not expect.

The very first line about his captivity and then the sentence about him being able to read made me want to know this character. I was committed to reading this book before the end of page one solely because of the octopus’s snarky voice.

His short point-of-view chapters are interspersed with chapters in multiple third person from two human characters’ POVs, an older white woman and a younger white man. I became a little impatient with the humans, especially since the octopus is clearly the smartest character in the book and knows more about what’s going on, but overall it was fun to see how the story threads tied together.

If you’ve wondered how you might marry first-person chapters with third person, here’s one approach to it. The book is worth reading for the octopus alone.

The Sign for Home uses two point-of-view characters in alternating chapters. Arlo, a young, white, DeafBlind man, has signed up for a community college writing class. He shares his story in second person, which really pulls the reader into Arlo’s skin.

Here’s a snippet from Arlo:

Sniff.

The air of your room. The odor of sheets and blankets, hot summer dust, old technology equipment, an Old Spice deodorant stick worn to a nub. The stinging smell of detergent from the washing machine outside your door burns the lining of your nostrils.

You are sitting alone at your desk in your T-shirt and shorts. The undersides of your thigs are sweaty and stick to the fiberglass chair. The tips of your fingers rub themselves against the cool plastic keys on the keyboard. You tilt your head down close to it.

And then, just as the reader is getting to know Arlo through his use of “you,” he starts typing an email and the reader suddenly understands that English is not his first language:

“I have getted your email. Please telling potential MALE interpreter (10 a.m.) and female interpreter (11 a.m.) with TOP TACTILE ASL SKILLS I will mee them and YOU tomorrow on ABILITIES INSTITUTE FOR THE DISABLED, 114 Skidmore Street, Poughkeepsie, NY at SECOND floor conference room. After meeting BOTH MALE AND FEMALE ASL interpreters I will then DECIDING which will team with my OLD LONG TIME INTERPRETER MOLLY CLINCH.”

Arlo’s character is so distinctive and different that the book is worth reading just for that (the character in the alternating POV chapters is funny and engaging in a completely different way).

Bonus points for the fact that Arlo’s been raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, a religion I have little knowledge of, which adds another fascinating layer to his character and the plot.

What compelling characters have you met in your reading this year?