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)

Best narrator ever. Great story.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. Captivating and enjoyable. Better to listen than read.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Leo. Insightful and funny. Really decent guy

Which character – as performed by Mark Deakins – was your favorite?

He did them all so well, it's impossible to say. He was amazing!!!

If you could rename South of Broad, what would you call it?

A Peon to Charleston.

Any additional comments?

Thanks - loved it! I had heard a lot of criticism of this book,but like Pat Conroy and wanted to try it. Your narrator transformed it..

A Lovely Story

Captivating story! One that can be categorized as literature.

Excellent, Interesting, and not boring!

Conroy's excellent work again! I love the mysteries of the different characters, the interactions, the complications, etc. So interesting and involved. I love the cultural differences that each group brings, such as the South, Catholicism, Racial, Gay, etc. The story unravels and ravels, uncovers, discovers each and everyone. I love that I feel each character's happiness, hurt, love, hate, wanting and needing. Excellent.

Loved It!

great story, loved the characters. The story was funny, sad and engaging.

A classic story of growing up

His description of the landscape and characters is beautifully done. One need only use his imagine to be able to be standing next to Leo King as he deals with the complexity of lifes events. I would take the book in somewhat shorter increments to be able to fully understand the complexity of the interaction of the participants.

Best Conroy book yet

I read every Pat Conroy book religiously, and this was my favorite one yet. This download from audible made me excited to get in my car for my daily 1 hour commute!

South of Broad is a great story beautifully told, you won't want it to end.

I loved this book and was sorry to have the story end. Pat Conroy's lyrical descriptions brought the places to life and the humanity he imbued his characters with kept me engaged as if I was hearing a tale about old friends. I will miss them but this story will stay with me. The narration was spot on, I often lingered in my car listening long after I had arrived home waiting to see what would happen next.

Needed Editing

I have loved Pat Conroy's books, but this one needed a good editing. It is too long for the story and repeats plot points and imagery to a tiresome degree. He writes with his lyrical beauty, as always, and the characters are worth meeting.

Pat Conroy at his very best!!!!!!

With each book that Pat Conroy writes I find myself captivated by the aching beauty of his words. Each book leaves me believing that there is no way he can get better; yet each time he does get better.
Anyone with deep love for the written word and a passion for the beauty of those words must read Pat Conroy's works.
I have never found another writer that can make my heart and soul ache with a desire for the next page as this writer.

Decent Story, Terrible Narration

Not the quality of other Conroy books but certainly worth a read. But Mark Deakins’s fake southern accent & mispronounced names makes this incredibly annoying to listen to. The “Charleston Huggies,” really? I guess it just wasn’t possible to find an actual southerner to narrate, but sadly this accent is so bad it’s nails on a chalkboard.