Drakes Bay Oyster Company was a small family-run operation in Marin County, California. But when it was ordered closed because it was inside the Point Reyes National Seashore boundaries, what had been a local story went national. Communities divided; friends fell out. Eventually, the acrimonious debate drew in politicians, lobbyists and pressure groups from all over America.

Summer Brennan, author of The Oyster War: The True Story of A Small Farm, Big Politics And The Future of Wilderness In America had grown up near Point Reyes and when the editor of the local paper offered her a job, she moved home from Brooklyn. As she delved deeper into the story she had to face powerful opponents as well as her