South of Broad

Written by Pat Conroy

Narrated by Mark Deakins

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A big sweeping novel of friendship and marriage” (The Washington Post) by the celebrated author of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini
 
Leopold Bloom King has been raised in a family shattered—and shadowed—by tragedy. Lonely and adrift, he searches for something to sustain him and finds it among a tightly knit group of outsiders. Surviving marriages happy and troubled, unrequited loves and unspoken longings, hard-won successes and devastating breakdowns, as well as Charleston, South Carolina’s dark legacy of racism and class divisions, these friends will endure until a final test forces them to face something none of them are prepared for.
 
Spanning two turbulent decades, South of Broad is Pat Conroy at his finest: a masterpiece from a great American writer whose passion for life and language knows no bounds.
 
Praise for South of Broad
 
“Vintage Pat Conroy . . . a big sweeping novel of friendship and marriage.”—The Washington Post
 
“Conroy remains a magician of the page.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“Richly imagined . . . These characters are gallant in the grand old-fashioned sense, devoted to one another and to home. That siren song of place has never sounded so sweet.”—New Orleans Times-Picayune
 
“A lavish, no-holds-barred performance.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
 
“A lovely, often thrilling story.”—The Dallas Morning News
 
“A pleasure to read . . . a must for Conroy’s fans.”—Associated Press

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 11, 2009
• ISBN: 9780739382943

Pat Conroy

Pat Conroy (1945–2016) was the author of The Boo, The Water Is Wide, The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, The Prince of Tides, Beach Music, The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life, My Losing Season, South of Broad, My Reading Life, and The Death of Santini.

[zedseayou · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

For once, I'm recording my impression immediately after finishing a book. The reason is that basically the end of the book left me with a surprising amount of energy and desire for action. I'm sitting here questioning how much I should believe that, but it's hard not get caught up in Conroy's characters' feelings. Leo's triumph and nice, novelistic ending is not one that I necessarily think I can achieve, but it still manages to leave me feeling good. I'd say this is typical of the book as a whole, where an entire cast of characters appears and moves around in a way that - while not predictable exactly - lends itself to feeling like it's on rails, with just a hint too much deus ex. I don't feel that seriously harms the novel though for me; I take it with an understanding of suspension of disbelief and the enjoyment is conscious rather than consuming.

[wellreadsoutherner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I didn't like this book at first. I thought of putting it down a few times. But I stuck with it and glad I did as I had not read any of his books but heard a lot of good things about them. He sure can paint an image with words as if he uses a thesaurus constantly. It is action driven, trashy and uses some stock stereotypes of the South and Charleston from late 60s to late 80s but I daresay it is probably true. Lively dialogue kept me going to the end where I couldn't put down the last 1/4 of the book.

[meladylo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I just completely love Pat Conroy's writing. This book was so good that I read it WHILE listening to the audio (which slowed me down considerably - in a good way). Then I took notes.....all the beautiful phrases Conroy uses are just too lyrical and mesmerizing to forget

[drapple_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel is a bit long winded and it flashes back and forth between the present and past. Despite that, it presents a whole group of characters that the reader cares deeply about, and it has the beautiful, lyrical language for which Pat Conroy is famous. I wasn't sure I could make it through this whole novel after the first few chapters, but he pulled me in, and I was glad I stayed.

[amandanan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I can't believe this was my first Conroy novel. I'm quite unsure why I waited so long! Loved the first person narration by Leo for the entirety of the book, but at times it was difficult trying to keep up with all the names and skipping around in the story.

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was the perfect book to read in Charleston. It’s like a love letter to the city. The plot gets a bit dramatic and loses some steam when it goes to San Francisco. There’s a lot of issues tackled and the drama is a bit much at times. The strength of the novel lies in the coming-of-age story and the relationship between the friends. It reminded me a bit of the friendship bonds in King’s “It” and goes back and forth in time in the same way.

The characters of Leopold, his “Ulysses” obsessed mother, starlet Sheba, dramatic Trevor, logical Ike and his strong wife Betty, Molly and her jerk of a husband, etc. will stay with me for a long time. I loved the relationships and how they developed, but the plot got unnecessarily dark as we meet the twisted father of the twins. I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed it as much if I hadn’t been in Charleston at the time. Conroy’s love for his city drips off every page. He describes Battery Park, Folly Beach, and all the details of the city with such adoration that it made it a fun read. There’s a big twist at the end of the book that seemed evident to me from the earliest chapters. I think quite a few plots could’ve been cut out without losing anything from the book. Regardless, highly recommended if you are looking for a good Charleston book!

[riofriotex · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Leopold "Leo" "Toad" Bloom King is the narrator of this story of high school friendship and adult problems. In the summer of 1969, just before his senior year of high school in Charleston, South Carolina, Leo is coming to the end of probation on a drug charge, after ten years of mental illness sparked by his older brother's suicide at age 10. His former-nun mother (now high school principal) orders him to make contact with nine incoming seniors: Ike, the son of the new - and black - football coach; Sheba and Trevor, twins moving in across the street; rich kids Chad, his sister Fraser and girlfriend Molly, kicked out of their prep school for drug possession; and orphans Niles and Starla (who are siblings) and Betty (who is black). Not surprisingly, by the end of part 1, this group of misfits are all friends.

Parts 2 and 3 are set in 1989, when Sheba - now a movie star - comes back to Charleston to enlist the help of her friends (who ended up marrying each other) in finding her gay brother Trevor in San Francisco. Part 4 goes back to 1969-70 and the group's senior year in high school, and part 5 returns to 1989-90.

I liked this book despite the stereotyped characters and the sometimes-too-witty repartee. Maybe because it reminded me a bit of my own high-school group, although we were nowhere near as close 20+ years post-graduation. Even better though were the lyrical descriptions of Charleston, so much so that now I'd really like to visit it. I found the plot to be interesting and I did not see the revelation at the end coming - although I should have.

[noblechicken · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

There is a decent novel in there somewhere, probably, but I'll be damned if I am going to try and find it. Main character, Leo King, named from a James Joyce character, and his childhood friends go to find a lost friend and there is also a lot of other messed up stuff that happens. It's kind of like an attempt at southern Gothic "It" except there are no monster clowns and it is way less imaginative. Over-the-top everything in characterization and events. Dismissively 2 dimensional characters and for much of the book we get to witness them just yapping at each other in 1969, and 1989. Leo is a famous columnist, Ike is going to be police chief, Sheba is a movie star and tells everyone (who already knows) every chance she gets. Whoopee. I feel like Conroy wrote these characters in this book to give him the excuse to write assholish dialogue. There was also a lot of unnecessary additions to the already overwrought (and painful) dialogue too, like a waitress kissing a characters cheek "like a sister" after a paragraph about how well they have known each other. Yeah, I got it. While the story is "meh", it sweeps along at a decent pace once the characters can hush up long enough to get it going, and there are some very clever humorous jokes throughout. The relationship between Leo and antique shop owner Harrington Canon is redeemable as well and Hurricane Hugo is a breath of fresh air in that it actually talks about Charleston again. Bookends it's "literary merit" I suppose by mentioning Bloomsday and some tacked on tripe about fate. It's a tragedy, ultimately, but not terribly well written. I really did not get much from this book.

[yhgail · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Thankfully it is over.

How could someone who has written so wonderfully turn this out.

His publisher should have stopped it.

[trayceetee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I LOVE the way Conroy lovingly describes Charleston--it's a place I MUST visit someday!

[trayceebee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I LOVE the way Conroy lovingly describes Charleston--it's a place I MUST visit someday!

[elleneer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Absorbing. But a bit schmaltzy like a soap opera. But how Conroy could write!! Crystalline descriptions of Charleston's beauty, climate, flora and fauna, etc. Amazing to read of how good friends threw non pc epithets at each other constantly, even affectionately. Couldn't be today. I was somewhat dismayed that the characters who suffered the worst childhoods met the worst fates. Is it impossible to overcome tragedy at a young age unless you have an intact family unit while growing up and a wonderful father as Leo did? Now I have to read Prince of Tides again. I read it perhaps 30 or more years ago. At that time I thought Prince of Tides was the best book I had ever read. A second reading by an older mind may not agree.

[mhanover10 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was so enjoyable! I couldn't put it down. You really get sucked into the storyline. I recommend this book.

[brucemmoyer · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

If you can survive the first 30 pages and the last dozen where the author tries to impress readers with his Shakespearian flair, you will find a very interesting and absorbing tale well worth reading. Once Conroy abandons his quest to become a classical writer and settles in, the story becomes believable and both exciting and sentimental at the same time. One could easily imagine the pompous trash written at the beginning and end of this novel was written by an entirely different writer that the one that went on to create a great story well worth reading.

[gkiggins-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Too, too, too everything. Pat Conroy has skill or maybe when I read Prince of Tides I was too young to notice a lack. Regardless, this book doesn't work for me. It felt as if he could only write in the extreme and none of the story was real. Yuck.

[citizenjoyce · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Southern chauvinism, religiosity, and women with icy hearts all wrapped around a main character who is the second coming of Christ. At least it ended well but took a mighty long time to get there.

[dmtcer-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pat Conroy really does great character development. Quirky, funny, odd, sad, complex. It took me tw tries to get into reading this, but when I did, I found I could not put it down. Dramatic and tragic, all at the same time!

[far2manybooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A coming-of-age story, events and characters are quirky, strange, or downright disturbing.

Frustrating because:
- I struggled with the dialogue; it seemed overdone.
- For my tastes it could have been a good bit shorter and still told the tale.
-Also, the mysteries of characters — the revelation of how these teenagers are transformed into remarkable adults — remains beyond the reader’s grasp.

[theeccentriclady · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pat Conroy has a way of combining 5 books into 1. Charleston S.C. is one of my favorite cities anywhere and reading his descriptions made me feel I was walking the streets right as I sat there reading. I enjoyed this book as an audio book and the narrator's southern accent was pleasant to listen to. My only negative was I picked a bad time to take on this story. I have several other books to read and I borrowed this one from the library and became impatient to get it done. My advice is to be sure you have time to relax and ingest all that Mr Conroy has to share in this wonderful southern tale.

[megmo07 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like Pat Conroy. I've enjoyed most of his books. South of Broad felt a little over the top at times and a bit far fetched. I mean, how much misery can you fit into one person's life?

[bami210 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the first Pat Conroy I've read. I almost quit reading it after about 30-50 pages because I didn't understand all the description. But there was a reason for all his "laying of groundwork" because I loved the book and didn't want it to end. I'm now going to start reading some older Pat Conroy.

[adonisguilfoyle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What on earth was that about? At first I was thinking 'the deformed offspring of thirtysomething and Steel Magnolias', but then the whole confused narrative turned into some crazy plot from an American soap opera, and I rapidly lost the plot. The lives of a tortured teen, two hillbilly orphans, twins beings stalked by their psychopathic father, a token black couple, and three rich kids are rehashed in retrospect by the kid who grows up to be a journalist, a la Stephen King. All fair and good, and I loved the descriptions of Charleston, South Carolina (though not the purple prose), but the goings on, both back in the 60s and in the 'present day' 80s, were just bonkers! I mean, what?

First of all, I couldn't quite stomach how perfect Leo was - his introductions to all these troubled teens, and the speed with which he mops up the frequent adolescent messes they get themselves into, were nauseating to say the least. 'Hey, uncuff these delinquent hillbillies, I'm going to turn their messed up lives around' - 'Oh thank you, Leo!' or 'Hey, I baked you some cookies and I won't tell a soul that your mother is a raving alcoholic' - 'You're amazing, Leo, let me pop your cherry by way of thanks' I just ... But then I think Pat Conroy got bored, and decided that instead of some coming of age/nostalgic righting of social wrongs, he really wanted to pen a hackneyed thriller, so started throwing in action scenes and mutilated corpses. And don't even remind me of the 'shocking revelation' of the final chapters, which was signposted in neon very early on but then ignored for the rest of the book - just stop already! You have reached your cliche quota, Mr Conroy; start a new book if you wish to write more.

Three stars for being able to get through this certifiable drivel in the shortest possible time, but if, like me, you want to read about South Carolina, buy a travel guide.

[capnrandm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book gets four stars just from how much I love reading Pat Conroy. Underneath the gorgeous writing, however, was a group of relationships I had a hard time believing in and a few villians that were just too over the top. But the way he writes, all is forgiven.

[lindap69 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love the storyteller that comes through in Pat Conroy's books and they are great (although long) on audio. His use of non ordinary words makes me fall in love with the English language once again.

[purlewe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting book about growing up in Charleston SC. I will admit I finished it at lunch and I did cry.

[suztales · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have long been a Conroy fan, but I must say I had a hard time getting into this book. I almost gave up several times as a number of misfits were introduced and we jumped back and forth between time frames. Conroy's prose is always outstanding despite the excessive vulgar language (even Sister Norbert was using it!). Having said all that I must add that this story, when read in its entirety, packs a wallop! The author stretches our imagination to the furthest limit, then the minute we settle into acceptance, he edges it a little further. Reaching that last page I closed the book satisfied that the next years of the Toad's life were going to be happy. A good feeling to have. I recommend this novel to anyone who likes books about complicated relationships.

[terk71 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is a retelling of life with the Great Santini as revamped and transformed in Sister Mary Norbert. The reversed parental roles are similar, the timeline again starts in the 1960s, and a South Carolina city serves as the location. Where former marine Bull Meecham brought military discipline into his family, the former nun Lisa King rules with religious sternness. Ben Meecham is translated into the narrator Leo “Toad” King, who endures parental disappointments, teenage angst, personal discoveries and losses.

Pat Conroy visits some universal topics: Belonging: societal cultures and subcultures; family, relatives, and orphans; friends and enemies; religions and vocations. Redemption: through works and not by words or prayers. Sex: ranging from simple salacious flirting to seditious conquests to sanctified unions.

Conroy intertwines sample studies that include: Friendship: ten featured characters’ lifelong couplings. Segregation: racial tensions in cafés, in schoolrooms and on the gridiron, or class distinctions via Charlestonian snobbery. Eye Problems: Toad and Starla. Mental Deficiencies: almost everyone. Suicide: Toad’s teenage brother Stephen and Toad’s estranged wife. Gays and AIDS: ongoing problems with Trevor and a tour of San Francisco’s subculture. Stalking and Serial Killing: the twins’ estranged father seems likely. Weather: climaxed with the destructive visit from Hurricane Hugo. Pedophile Priests: a topic that segues into the denouement of this novel.

Conroy’s style is beautifully descriptive and humorously provocative. Sarcasm drips from the narrative as well as from the narrator, Toad. There is delightful repartee between most characters and humor certainly defines the peacemaker, pacifist protagonist Toad.

The format is a bit peculiar. The ordinary timeline of Toad’s teenage years is interrupted with several chapters of the characters’ adventure 20 years later, then returns to high school, and finally cycles back into contemporary sequence. Nonetheless, the sequential separation works here.

The novel is a delightful panorama of Southern life. I’m glad I didn’t wait another few years before picking this book from my slush shelf.

[silva_44 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pat Conroy's writing is haunting in this tale of a group of friends who are knocked around by life, and come out all the stronger. Although this book is difficult to read, in terms of the violence and harsh language, I found myself drawn in by Conroy's gift at making you weep at nearly every page. I loved the main character, Leo King, a stand-up guy despite his claims otherwise. Some of the dialogue was a bit overdone, and Conroy seemed to throw in every tragedy possible, from rape to murder, but it was a fabulous read nonetheless.

[weeziesbooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“South of Broad” was a selection for a book club that I attend and I had been wanting to read it for quite some time, but other books kept rising to the top of the piles. I am so glad it was selected because it was a wonderful book about the lives of many different families in Charleston. It was a good bookclub choice as well as a wonderful individual read. The characters were well developed from the lovely and tortured siblings Trevor and Sheba to Leo, his family and many friends such as Ike and Betty. As a lifelong newspaper man, literally a paperboy as a child, the story centered around Leo and the cast of eclectic cast of characters that become lifelong friends and support for one another through many difficult and uplifting times. The catholic upbringing, the plight of orphan children, the abuse and love that is in families were all addressed. The book also reminded me of Hugo, the devastating hurricane and it’s terrible impact upon a beautiful and grand old city and it’s inhabitants. The story of living with and breaking down the barriers of prejudice, hatred and snobbery are directly addresses in this great novel. This was a book that I will read again as it has many stories to tell and there are many lessons to learn. Prince of Tides and Beach Music were very good books but this is my favorite Pat Conroy book and I strongly recommend it.

[elsyd_19 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Because Pat Conroy wrote this, of course I loved it! His descriptions and language are magnificent. I am begining to realize that he is not perfect. I find his plots and conversation
over the top, and to me somewhat unbelievable. This does not detract from my enjoyment of his books!