Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    South of Broad
    Unavailable
    South of Broad
    Unavailable
    South of Broad
    Audiobook20 hours

    South of Broad

    Written by Pat Conroy

    Narrated by Mark Deakins

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    #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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateAug 11, 2009
    ISBN9780739382943
    Unavailable
    South of Broad
    Author

    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.

    More audiobooks from Pat Conroy

    Related to South of Broad

    Related audiobooks

    Literary Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Everybody Loves A Cowboy

      Nov 11, 2022

      Everybody Loves A Cowboy
      5 min read

    • Article

      Reviews

      Jan 19, 2023

      Reviews
      6 min read

    • Article

      Literary Agents

      Feb 29, 2020

      Information in this section is provided to The Writer by the individual markets and events; for more information, contact those entities directly. F = Fiction N = Nonfiction P = Poetry C = Children’s Y = Young adult O = Other F N C Y 3 SEAS LITERARY

      14 min read

    • Article

      Swamp City Serenade

      Mar 8, 2019

      LOT: STORIES by Bryan Washington RIVERHEAD BOOKS $25; 240 PAGES THE WONDER OF HOUSTON CAN SOMETIMES BE DIFFICULT TO explain to those not born and bred in the Bayou City. Yes, it is indeed sprawling, as so many have said pejoratively through the years

      4 min read

    • Article

      Everybody Loves A Cowboy

      Nov 12, 2022

      Everybody Loves A Cowboy
      5 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Jul 17, 2023

      Books
      6 min read

    • Article

      Top 10 Podcasts

      Dec 7, 2019

      Four hundred years after the frigate White Lion brought slavery to America, New York Times writer Nikole Hannah-Jones reframes the country’s history through the lens of that institution. Each episode demonstrates how our economy, political system and

      3 min read

    • Article

      Top 10 Podcasts

      Dec 6, 2019

      Four hundred years after the frigate White Lion brought slavery to America, New York Times writer Nikole Hannah-Jones reframes the country’s history through the lens of that institution. Each episode demonstrates how our economy, political system and

      3 min read

    • Article

      Spring Book Reviews

      Sep 2, 2022

      by A.M. Homes Published by Granta Books ISBN 9781783789146 $32.99 A prize-winning novelist, essayist and creative writing academic at Princeton, A.M. Homes has turned her hand to a speculative parable exploring the swirling madness of America’s polit

      4 min read

    • Article

      His Own Tailor-Made Chronicle

      Jul 20, 2021

      His Own Tailor-Made Chronicle
      12 min read

    • Article

      Headphone Masterpieces

      Jan 1, 2021

      When poet/singer Gil Scott-Heron and pianist/arranger Brian Jackson entered DB Sound in Silver Spring, Maryland to record Winter in America in October of 1973, the world outside the studio doors was in turmoil. Despite the fact that the U.S. had sign

      6 min read

    • Article

      Today’s Cultural Engineers

      Jan 13, 2019

      Today’s Cultural Engineers
      4 min read

    • Article

      Rival Bonds

      Dec 24, 2019

      Rival Bonds
      7 min read

    • Article

      Belfast 12a

      Jan 6, 2022

      Belfast 12a
      2 min read

    Reviews for South of Broad

    3.5/5

    910 ratings120 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      This book was so enjoyable! I couldn't put it down. You really get sucked into the storyline. I recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      I always think of Pat Conroy as one of my favorite authors,probably because Prince of Tides is one of my favorite books. I have read three others before anxiously beginning this new tribute to South Carolina. I think that is what I like best about this book - his tribute to the area. He writes about that with great detail and true emotion. I loved the description of the paper route that was used to give the details about this area and provide some background into Leo's life. I was immediately interested in reading about Joyce's novel Ulysses so that I can look for similarities. If was evident that this tale would be about some classic Conroy themes: Southern lifestyle, mental illness, suicide, abusive parents, and contemplating one's past events. Some new issues were detailed as well: AIDS, Orphans, and Hurricanes. I think with this Conroy novel it becomes the language that is the reward. The plot lines of this story have been explored before, and possibly there is actually too much plot here, but the writing makes it worthwhile.
    • 2/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      I LOVE the way Conroy lovingly describes Charleston--it's a place I MUST visit someday!
    • 3/5
      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.
    • 1/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      We first meet Leo King as he is preparing for his senior year of high school. The previous years have been rough on Leo, he lost his brother, spent time in a mental hospital and found himself on probation for a crime he did not commit. Now his mother, the principal of his high school, has charged him with convincing the white players of the football team to accept the new black coach. The friends that Leo makes that summer and into the school year will stay with him for the rest of his life.Before you read the following opinions, I will tell you up front that I received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher for review. I have not received any other compensation for this review.I was completely blown away by this novel. I had not previously read anything from Pat Conroy so I went in with little or no expectations for this book. The first twenty five pages or so were rough going for me. I remember joking that I though the author was attempting to break a record for the longest paragraph in a novel. If you start out and are finding yourself uninterested, give it time.Pat Conroy paints a vivid and beautiful portrait of Charleston, South Carolina in 1969. He captures the various elements of society, both good and bad, rich and poor and merges them together. The integration of the schools plays a major role in Leo's life. Later in the novel, Conroy addresses the homosexual lifestyle and the dangers that those men faced during the 80s.South of Broad is a story of friendship. The story begins with the group of friends coming together, some begin as friends and some take more time to develop. Like all friends, they are tested. They must learn to address the bad as well as the good. They must learn to accept each other for who they are, even when it is most painful.The book begins in 1969, before Leo's senior year of high school. Then, the second and third parts move ahead to 1989, after the friendships have developed and the characters are established adults. The fourth part moves back to 1969 and highlights their senior year. Lastly, you move back to 1989 and finish out the book. Keeping the senior year portion of the book until part four was genius, it really built the suspense for what happened during that time. When you finally get there, it is worth the wait.I have no doubts that this book will be made into a movie. I hope Hollywood can capture the true essence of this wonderful novel. Just in case she is reading this blog (yea, like she reads my blog), Reese Witherspoon would be perfect as Molly. Just a little helpful casting advice there, no charge.South of Broad is one of those truly amazing books that you come across that makes you sound like a babbling fool trying to explain why it is so darn good to everyone you talk to. Put simply, this book is well worth your time to read.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      All I can say is wow. This is the first Pat Conroy book that I have read, and it won't be my last.
    • 3/5
      Although some of the characters seemed borrowed and unbelievable, I very much liked Leo, Jasper, and Harrington. Pat Conroy's description of the scenery and culture of Charleston is superb and Leo's thoughts and feelings were beautifully written.
    • 3/5
      This is the first Pat Conroy book that I have read and I was really disappointed. There were many parts of the novel that I found way over the top and forced. The book started out with so much promise but I felt increasingly uninspired as it went on.
    • 5/5
      I sadly finished Pat Conroy's lovely new novel. It took me many weeks to read, because I kept taking breaks to read other good novels. I just did not want South of Broad to end. Even more than his previous novels, the prose in this one is delicious. It seems every sentence involves comfortable explorations of complex sense and thought impressions. I could not get angry in some chapters when it looked like like the plot was becoming hackneyed. Conroy simply patted me on the head and said "there, there" with his lyrical descriptions. South of Broad allows the reader to experience an Eden where the beauty of God's grace and man's efforts can be relished on earth. The Charleston of the novel is a place where someone can have lifelong friends who make daily adventure and joy of life possible amidst the inevitable periods of pain. ...riverrun... Conroy's prose poem opens allusions to science, philosophy, religion, psychology, history, sports, medicine, art, music, architecture, ecology, weather, mythology, astronomy, and death. His work is like a 100 year old live oak tree I see on Hilton Head Island, with miriad branches and a palpable field of earthly wisdom. The believable (even in plot doubt) cast of characters is widely varied in personality and motivation. The reader cannot dismiss a single one, major or minor, as uninteresting. I completely enjoyed and savored every page of South of Broad on my Kindle One. I cherish the novel as yet another peak experience on my miraculous machine.
    • 5/5
      Although everyone has always said The Prince of Tides was Pat Conroy's masterpiece, I think we may see it here in South of Broad. This saga takes place mostly in Charleston, SC with a brief trip to San Francisco. It revolves around a group who met as high school seniors and follows their lives for the next twenty years through the AIDS epidemic and other assorted twists and turns. And, believe me, the book makes some remarkable twists and turns in its plot. I would add to my "not to be missed list" if I were you.
    • 3/5
      Not my favorite Conroy novel to date, but I was happy to have a new one by him to read. The more I think about this book, the more it annoys me. I don't want to say too much to spoil anyone else's reading of it. If you've not yet read any Conroy novels, don't let this be your first.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      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
    • 4/5
      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!
    • 5/5
      How sad that this genius will not be writing again. This could be a future re-read for me! His descriptions of places, characters and style are amazing. Mr. Conroy, you are missed.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 2/5
      I've always been a fan. I loved The Water is Wide, and I loved the movie version, Conrack. Same with The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, and even The Prince of Tides - loved the books and the movies. (well, except for the Barbra Streisand part) There were passages in every one of his stories that blew me away, scenes he painted so vividly and so well I can still recall them clearly to this day. I wanted to love South of Broad. I expected to love it. I tried to love it, but I just couldn't. The only reason I stuck with it was because it was written by Pat Conroy.There were bits and pieces of beauty in the writing, just enough to keep me hopeful when I was nearly overcome with hopelessness.This time it seemed he wrote the book with the singular focus of who would be cast for the movie roles. There were way too many main characters who had way too many stereotypical characteristics. There were ridiculous twists thrown in for the sole purpose of shock, and they were completely unshocking. The red nail polish and that whole thread was just silly. And the big reveal at the end with the old movie? C'mon, Pat. I could see that coming from a mile up the Coast.I love it when books hit me so hard I cry like a baby. This one? Maybe he thought if he made enough people break down and sob, weep, wail, and blubber, I'd shed a sympathy tear or two. Nada.
    • 5/5
      Although everyone has always said The Prince of Tides was Pat Conroy's masterpiece, I think we may see it here in South of Broad. This saga takes place mostly in Charleston, SC with a brief trip to San Francisco. It revolves around a group who met as high school seniors and follows their lives for the next twenty years through the AIDS epidemic and other assorted twists and turns. And, believe me, the book makes some remarkable twists and turns in its plot. I would add to my "not to be missed list" if I were you.
    • 5/5
      I sadly finished Pat Conroy's lovely new novel. It took me many weeks to read, because I kept taking breaks to read other good novels. I just did not want South of Broad to end. Even more than his previous novels, the prose in this one is delicious. It seems every sentence involves comfortable explorations of complex sense and thought impressions. I could not get angry in some chapters when it looked like like the plot was becoming hackneyed. Conroy simply patted me on the head and said "there, there" with his lyrical descriptions. South of Broad allows the reader to experience an Eden where the beauty of God's grace and man's efforts can be relished on earth. The Charleston of the novel is a place where someone can have lifelong friends who make daily adventure and joy of life possible amidst the inevitable periods of pain. ...riverrun... Conroy's prose poem opens allusions to science, philosophy, religion, psychology, history, sports, medicine, art, music, architecture, ecology, weather, mythology, astronomy, and death. His work is like a 100 year old live oak tree I see on Hilton Head Island, with miriad branches and a palpable field of earthly wisdom. The believable (even in plot doubt) cast of characters is widely varied in personality and motivation. The reader cannot dismiss a single one, major or minor, as uninteresting. I completely enjoyed and savored every page of South of Broad on my Kindle One. I cherish the novel as yet another peak experience on my miraculous machine.
    • 3/5
      This is the first Pat Conroy book that I have read and I was really disappointed. There were many parts of the novel that I found way over the top and forced. The book started out with so much promise but I felt increasingly uninspired as it went on.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      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.
    • 1/5
      The only reason I finished this book was because it was our monthly bookclub selection. Way too much purple prose, un-southern dialogue, improbable collection of characters. I agree with those who suggest that as a first novel, it would never have been publislhed.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      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?