'South of Broad' by Pat Conroy - Book Review

Pat Conroy, bestselling author of novels including Prince of Tides and Beach Music, has made his fans wait fourteen years for his newest novel. South of Broad is a rambling novel about Charleston, South Carolina and a group of unlikely friends who weather life's storms together. While South of Broad offers definite charms, it lacks the charisma of some of his earlier novels.

Pat Conroy is known for writing astounding and moving novels, generally that take place in the South and offering portraits of dysfunctional families. In many ways, South of Broad stays in the same vein as his previous works. The novel is named after a wealthy neighborhood of Charleston, South Carolina, and the narrator of South of Broad is a high school loser who was forever scarred by his older brother's suicide.

Class, race and social graces collide as Leo starts his senior year of college, and he forms a friendship with a rag tag group of newly-integrated students, orphans and prep school kids. South of Broad follows this group of friends well into adulthood, at time treating the most profound of experiences with strangely brief explanations. While there are many elements to admire about Conroy's latest novel, it feels as though some central organizing force or explanation is missing, and there's an implausibility to the story.

Although not ultimately satisfying, Conroy's beautiful prose and the lively characters make South of Broad a book that will keep you interested.