Sea Change, by Gina Chung (Master of Fine Art, Fiction, 2021), Penguin Random House.
Turning 30, lonely and adrift, Ro finds solace with a companion who signals mood shifts by changing colors. It’s Dolores, a giant Pacific squid in the aquarium where Ro works, and an emotional link to her deceased marine biologist father. One reviewer found this debut novel by Chung, who has previously received a Pushcart Prize for short fiction, “awash in effective and moving storytelling.”