South of Broad

By: Pat Conroy

Narrated by: Mark Deakins

Length: 20 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Number one New York Times best seller.

“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.

©2009 Pat Conroy (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

“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 beautiful and powerful story

This is one of my favourite books of all time. The language is lyrical and evocative and the story compelling. I loved every minute. Toad, Sheba, Trevor, Ike, Betty, Niles, Molly, Starla and even Chad will stay with me for a very long time.

one of the greats

one of the best books i have ever "read" audio or otherwise. a superlative writer, a true word artiste, a story teller of the highest caliber, and most important, it is about being human and about life. a wonderful approach to time line changes that makes it all happen! rich, and full of mind jolting awakenings. A must read. now if i only had an idea what to read after this best of the best.....

Loved the book and the narrator.

I love every Conroy book I have read. This was no exception. The narrator was fabulous!

Disappointing Entry from Great Writer

Because Pat Conroy is my all-time favorite writer, I set aside quality listening time to regale in his latest novel. Now I have spent the equivalent listening hours to determine why South of Broad was such a great disappointment.
1) The reader was aweful. He did southern accent okay .. it's just that all the southern accents were so similar that I couldn't tell which character was speaking without a "he said" or "she said" to indicate.
2) The characters were stereotypical and predictable. No surprises, even at the end when we were, I think, supposed to be shocked.
3) There was no subletly ... every nuance was clearly elucidated like Conroy didn't trust his own writing to deliver underlying thoughts, feelings or motives without explanation.
4) Attempts to make each of the characters memorable failed. I kept waiting to care about what happened to them, and just couldn't muster the empathy.
5) Despite its length, there was a sense of abridgement ... like the story was maintained but not the Conroy essence of it. When I fell asleep during part 2 I didn't bother to backup and listen to the hour I had missed, and predictably important plot parts of the missed scene were rehashed a few times

This novel is not representative of the man who brought us The Great Santini, Prince of Tides, Lords of Discipline, etc...

Almost Perfect

No need to rehash all the plot points already covered here and in other places. Instead, I want to underscore the power of Conroy's insights. The depth of characterization and the beauty of each unique person is the foundation of this remarkable book. For a writer, it is a model of near perfection, on par with any classic or modern fiction I've ever read. The ending perfectly balances and ties up all the filaments of this finely spun tale and left me satisfied, not needing or wanting more answers to any questions. To me, that is the test... that it is a completely realized rendering of an incident or a period in a life. The narrator is honest, fearless and human. His observations of himself and his friends are keen. Underscoring the humor and sadness of the various characteris is the understanding that this book was a healing in its writing. They may all be fictional compilations, but the author/narrator, the metaphysical spirit of the book feels authentic and honest. In the dramatic as well as the capricious adventures of this band of friends, whose responses to life and their destinies took shape in the 1960s, the writer's mastery is delicate yet firm, driving the plot to its inevitable end. The story goes between 1969 and 1989, but it is about all the space in between as well. There is a lot of a loss in this story. The losses are not not neatly sewn together with platitudes and coincidences, they are felt losses emotionally dran. The joys are a somewhat muted.. the successes modest, the fates established. Wonderful, powerful, resonant long after finishing it.

Loved the Listen!!

Yes, the book contained previous Conroy themes and a couple scenarios seemed implausible, but I loved the premise and the characters. Perhaps because they were 'my generation', I could picture myself with the gang. I didn't want the book to end and want to know what happened after I left them. For me,a great book!

Gracious Charleston

I got married in Charleston, two years ago and this book just took me back to that time and the gracious people there. I enjoyed listening to this while driving to work and was sorry when it came to an end. Some great characters here and lots of drama - can't wait to see if they make this into a movie! I've never read anything from Pat Conroy before but had to get this one since Charleston is now dear to my heart too! It's a great listen.

Book and Narrator are Awesome

What a super job the narrator, Mark Deakins, did with the book. I lost a lot of sleep listening - couldn't stop.

Best ever -- what makes audiobooks special!

I decided specifically to listen to this book instead of reading it. I anticipated the richness of a southern story-teller making it even more interesting and it was exactly as I had hoped. The book itself was excellent in the wonderful development by Conroy of his characters and the story was also excellent. But the addition of the performance by the narrator is what made the experience for me even richer and more enjoyable. In our book club we have had discussions of which books to read and which to listen to and what the difference is in the appreciation, understanding and perception of the book. I have heard from others that the read of South of Broad was very good. But I know that one of the reasons I can recommend this book as one of the best I have "read" in the past year is because I got to experience the performance of the book as well as the read by listening to it on audible. When that happens you know you have made the correct choice to listen rather than read a book!

Perfect narration, beautiful story

My first read of the storied Pat Conroy did not disappoint. In beautiful, deep Southern dialect Mark Deakins perfectly captures the characters and descriptions that Pat Conroy so expertly writes. This book was captivating poetry with an intriguing plot. Just lovely.