Heartbreakingly beautiful, Monterey Bay is an engrossing tale of love – and what happens to the people, places and things we try so desperately to preserve.

The scope of this book is staggering. In 320 pages you meet John Steinbeck, his muse Ed Ricketts, and Margot Fiske, a driven, intelligent young woman who is unwavering in her attempts to make her place in the world; you’ll travel from Canary Row-era Monterey California, to post-World War Two Manila, and back to Monterey in 1998; you’ll see the raucous parties in Rickett’s lab, learn about aquariums, sea life, and the early days of marine ecology, and you’ll meet members of the immigrant populations that built Monterey. There are fires, horse fights, flying steaks, bags of cats, and through it all, the unquestionable magnificence of one of the most incredible places on earth.

While some reviewers have pointed out that Margot is a challenging protagonist, I disagree. Though she makes some questionable decisions, she owns them, she moves on, and she’s never willing to be seen as a victim. Imagine if Edna Pontellier didn’t drown herself at the end of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, but instead swam on (and then built an aquarium) – that’s Margot.

Hatton tells it all with stunning writing that is worthy of place and people who inhabit this book. This is a book that will stay with you for a long time.