Tessa Yang intricately explores human and aquatic relationships in her first novel, The Jellyfish Problem. For marine biologist Dr. Josephine Ness, "jellyfish were [her] first thought on waking and [her] last thought before falling asleep." For three years, she's been writing The Modern Medusa: A Jellyfish Primer with best (and only) friend Aldo, whom Jo met in grad school. Unfortunately, Aldo's been dead for seven months, after a scuba accident that Jo insists was her fault. She's been living "a stalled and hollow life since losing Aldo," existing between her bare apartment and her "fussy jelly babies in their polyp parlor at Seaheart," the small aquarium at the edge of Joshua Tree National Park, where she's currently underemployed.
Then Jo gets a call from Nadia, her "first real friend," whom she hasn't spoken to since their college graduation 11 years ago. Jo doesn't want to be "that most tragic of gay stereotypes: the pitiful lesbian pining after her straight best friend," but Nadia needs help only Jo can provide, because Shattering Point, the tiny Maine island Nadia calls home, is "having a really big jellyfish problem." The video footage may look fake, but this mysterious medusa is possibly the biggest in the world. Jo goes, not just for the chance to see Nadia, but because Aldo "would've loved the idea of [her] dropping everything and flying across the country to pursue a giant, probably mythical jellyfish." When she arrives, however, Nadia's gone missing, and her husband Roger's nonchalance over her not coming home the previous night is unnerving. Jo needs to meet the jellyfish--improbably named Clementine by a local child--and figure out who and what she is, and then somehow free the island from her luminous thrall. Jo's discoveries engender new relationships, particularly with innkeeper Tony and empathic artist Margo--exactly the connections she needs to solve this jellyfish problem.
Yang is a casual, intimate writer, drawing in audiences with dropped hints and slow reveals. She seems to imagine in extremes--a monstrous creature beloved by a small child, a dead man demanding release from an urn decorated with "that fucking sea turtle." She seamlessly blends detailed marine science and magical realism--all with welcome doses of well-timed humor--interweaving relationship drama, love (and hate) story, mother/daughter confrontations, corporate labyrinths, and a few pokes at the publishing industry. Glowing at the novel's core is the universal need for finding community. --Terry Hong
Shelf Talker: Tessa Yang's first novel, The Jellyfish Problem, intriguingly spotlights a marine biologist on the cusp of great discoveries, both professional and deeply personal.