A Whole World of Trouble: A Novel

When I get homesick for Rock Hall, MD, I read Helen Chappell. She has the whole scene down pat: the speech, the truck beds, the humidity, the scent of salted eels, the VFD, the food, and the people. Only thing missing is the smell of a wet Lab. I suspect a good bit of Rock Hall is hidden in plain sight in Oysterback. So yes, this is a relationship drama, but for me it is a trip home.

I really liked this book, but admittedly I like everything Helen Chappell writes. This book was a lot of fun with a couple of out loud chuckles. It was the kind of read that you're sorry to finish - because then it's over - but at the same time it's too good to put down.

Junk picker Carrie returns to her hometown, Oysterback, Maryland on the Eastern Shore to attend her mother's funeral. Carrie and her sister Earlene have been at odds for years over lifestyles and even while trying to honor the dead they argue. Both await their brother Delmar to return with the ashes from Florida, but he is being detained by police for an incident at the airport where metal detectors were set off by their mom's urn.Carrie is shocked to find Professor Jack Shepherd sleeping in her mother's bed. He explains that he normally lives on a boat, but her mother said he could use her house while she was away if he needed to for some reason. Her former boyfriend, the married Hudson Swann, also accosts Carrie. She clearly explains to Hudson that they are the past though she admits to herself that she wouldn't mind a future with Jack.Though there is a dark comical backdrop, WHOLE LOT OF TROUBLE is a deep relationship drama that showcases family rivalries and lingering disagreements and disappointments. The sisters are a delight to observe fuss and fight while their respective descriptions of their brother paint quite a picture of him. Though some tension caused by "outsiders" seems unnecessary, fans will appreciate this no person is an island tale that emphasizes everybody needs somebody sometimes.Harriet Klausner

Fans of Helen Chappell, rejoice! Oysterback, the delightful town on Maryland's Eastern Shore that was the setting for two earlier collections, has returned, as deliciously quirky as ever.For protagonist Carrie Hudson, Oysterback is less than delightful -- it's her hometown and she left it behind her a long time ago. Now her mother's death has brought her home, home to deal with everything she thought she'd left behind her a long time ago.By turns humorous and touching, A WHOLE WORLD OF TROUBLE is Chappell at her best.