Against the sumptuous backdrop of Charleston, South Carolina, South of Broad gathers a unique cast of sinners and saints. Leopold Bloom King, our narrator, is the son of an amiable, loving father who teaches science at the local high school. His mother, an ex-nun, is the high school principal and a well-known Joyce scholar. After Leo's older brother commits suicide at the age of thirteen, the family struggles with the shattering effects of his death, and Leo, lonely and isolated, searches for something to sustain him. Eventually, he finds his answer when he becomes part of a tightly knit group of high school seniors that includes friends Sheba and Trevor Poe, glamorous twins with an alcoholic mother and a prison-escapee father; hardscrabble mountain runaways Niles and Starla Whitehead; socialite Molly Huger and her boyfriend, Chadworth Rutledge X; and an ever-widening circle whose liaisons will ripple across two decades-from 1960s counterculture through the dawn of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.
The ties among them endure for years, surviving marriages happy and troubled, unrequited loves and unspoken longings, hard-won successes and devastating breakdowns, and Charleston's dark legacy of racism and class divisions. But the final test of friendship that brings them to San Francisco is something no one is prepared for. South of Broad is Pat Conroy at his finest; a long-awaited work from a great American writer whose passion for life and language knows no bounds.
The first novel in fourteen years from beloved writer Pat Conroy (Beach Music, Prince of Tides) evoked passionate responses from our members. With 20 out of 23 rating it 4 or 5 stars, nearly all of them found the book well worth the wait, but even the fans had some criticisms, for example:
South of Broad will offer true Conroy fans many familiar elements… While the plot can be a little contrived and the dialogue occasionally too cute, it's overall a good, enjoyable read. Although it falls short of Prince of Tides, this book shows there is life after Beach Music and gives me hope that Mr. Conroy will return to the regular creation of exceptional novels... I, for one, have missed him (Fred V). (Reviewed by BookBrowse First Impression Reviewers).
The New York Times
Conroy remains a magician of the page. As a writer, he owns the South Carolina coast. But the descriptions of the tides and the palms, the confessions of love and loss, the memories “evergreen and verdant” set side by side with evocations of the “annoyed heart” have simply been done better — by the author himself.
The Seattle Times
Conroy is an entertaining storyteller — he has a corker of a final twist here — yet much of "South of Broad" shows a weakness for emotional fireworks, two-dimensional characters and rough or purplish prose.
The Washington Post
[E]ven though I felt stage-managed by Conroy's heavy hand, I still turned the pages with relish. No one can describe a tide or a sunset with his lyricism and exactitude. My sense is that the millions of readers who cherish Conroy's work won't be at all disappointed - and nor will anyone who owns stock in Kleenex.
Booklist
[A] vast, intricate story [revealing] truths about love, lust, classism, racism, religion, and what it means to be shaped by a particular place, be it Charleston, South Carolina, or anywhere else in the U.S.
Publishers Weekly
Fans of Conroy's florid prose and earnest melodramas are in for a treat.
Kirkus Reviews
Conroy is a natural at weaving great skeins of narrative, and this one will prove a great pleasure to his many fans.
Library Journal
Starred Review. Filled with the lyrical, funny, poignant language that is Conroy's birthright, this is a work Conroy fans will love.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Maxson I Guess That's Why They Call It "Fiction" Yikes! What was I thinking? Bought this book at Borders as the 3rd book from one of their "Buy 2-get the 3rd Free" sale. A big disappointment, but I kept reading the book(why, I don't know).
The biggest complaint I have is that most... Read More
Rated of 5
by Judy South of Broad I found the book to be cheesy, and the story to be ridiculous. I found the language (southern inflection) and depiction of the people of the south to be demeaning. As I read I write words that fit the book. along with cheesy I wrote... Read More
Rated of 5
by Ann D. Over plotted but fun to read I instantly wanted to take a trip to Charleston after reading this book. I enjoyed the witty dialogue and rich descriptions, but it seemed like all the characters spoke the same way with few distinguishing or realistic traits. The plot itself... Read More
Rated of 5
by Lynn Beautifully written Pat Conroy is such an outstanding writer. There isn't a published word by him that I have not read. However, I believe I was a little let down by this book. It isn't fair to judge every book he writes by the great books of "The Great... Read More
Rated of 5
by Rebecca South of Broad, Southern, Unlikely friendships Pat Conroy has written another hit. This one is a based in Charleston, South Carolina and is a story of unlikely friendships that start in High School and last a lifetime. Leo King is eight years old when he finds his ten year old brother who has... Read More
Rated of 5
by Merle An Entertaining Disappointment Pat Conroy's latest book is a very entertaining read full of his classic descriptions and love of the south, however it is not believable enough to get lost in. Unfortunately even today I do not see the friendships he describes crossing class,... Read More
Pat Conroy was born on October 26, 1945, in Atlanta, Georgia, to a young career military officer from Chicago and a Southern beauty from Alabama, whom Pat often credits for his love of language. He was the first of seven children.
His father was a violent and abusive man, a man whose biggest mistake, Conroy once said, was allowing a novelist to grow up in his home. Since his family had to move many times to different military bases around the South, Conroy changed schools frequently, finally attending the Citadel Military Academy in Charleston, South Carolina, upon his father's insistence. While still a student, he wrote and then published his first book, The Boo, a tribute to a beloved teacher.
After graduation, Conroy taught English in Beaufort, where he met and married a young woman with two children, a widow of the Vietnam War. He then accepted a job teaching underprivileged children in a one-room schoolhouse on Daufuskie Island...
A vivid portrait of an
American family in the middle decades of the twentieth century.
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Pat Conroy was born on October 26, 1945, in Atlanta, Georgia, to a young career military officer from Chicago and a Southern beauty from Alabama, whom Pat often credits for his love of language. He was the first of seven children.
