Emma Knight is a Canadian author with only this novel to her credit. Before turning to the writing of fiction she was a journalist and co-writer of cookbooks. There's talk of The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus being adapted into a television series by MGM Television, but that series is far from being realized at the time of writing.
In the book Pen (short of "Penelope") ventures to Scotland to study abroad. After doing so she forges a relationship with the Lennox family, a group of erstwhile aristocrats living in a restored castle. She is immediately attracted to the Lennox's young son, Sasha, but her and Sasha's feelings for one another are undermined by both Pen's father's past dealings with the Lennoxes and family secrets on both sides.
What's a young, sexually inexperienced Canadian girl to do? Well, if you've read as many of these "chick lit"-type books as I have, you'll know that yes, Pen and Sasha eventually hook up, and yes, all of the family secrets are brought to light in the concluding chapters of this novel.
Just don't ask me what the octopus present in the title is supposed to symbolize. I'm still not entirely sure. The Margot character attempts to explain that during her and Pen's outing at the aquarium, but it seems a feeble metaphor, and one not entirely connected to the narrative.
The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus is a clumsily written book by a first time author. As such I'd give it a passing grade, but only passing. It resembles any number of similar books now on the market, and the author needs to either increase her output or start taking serious chances if she wants to avoid drowning in a sea of literary mediocrity.
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