Carroway Island Tales : Mischief, Mayhem, and Salt-Marsh Diplomacy

On Carroway Island, a small problem rarely stays small. Too many neighbors are willing to help.

Welcome to a fictional corner of the Chesapeake Bay, where the watermen are stubborn, the gossip travels faster than the ferry, and a public embarrassment can provide fifty years of entertainment.

In these eight stories, Robert Gill Jr. introduces a community remarkably skilled at making ordinary life complicated. An unfortunate beach sign provokes a battle over public decency. A tub-boat race invites ingenuity of a questionable sort. A mysterious creeper sets tongues wagging, while a console radio turns Sunday evenings into a struggle for the island's attention. Elsewhere, a shortage of an essential household supply threatens everyone's dignity, wild persimmons and honey inspire an enterprising venture, and the blessing of the fleet gives the clergy rather more than they bargained for.

Through the mischief move familiar island figures: Mayor Pike, Reverend Mercer, Crazy Jack Mercy, shopkeepers, watermen, and women who generally understand the situation long before the men finish explaining it.

But Carroway has room for more than laughter. Beneath the arguments and elaborate excuses are quieter stories of conscience, kindness, and neighbors who turn up when they are needed—even if they intend to discuss the matter afterward.

Carroway Island Tales: Mischief, Mayhem, and Salt-Marsh Diplomacy brings together eight tales of coastal life, affectionate humor, and the enduring business of getting along with people who know entirely too much about you.

Come ashore. Pull up a chair. Whatever happened, someone is already telling it.