I looked forward to Pat Conroy’s new book South of Broad with all the eager anticipation I normally reserve for a long-awaited vacation to a favorite destination. A familiar locale that I haven’t visited in a while, a spot that feeds the soul and provides much needed inspiration. But I wondered if the new book would meet my expectations. What if his writing has changed? Can he possibly match the depth and richness of The Great Santini or Beach Music?

Good news readers, South of Broad is Conroy at his best. He returns his readers to his favorite locale, the South. In this case, it’s Charleston, South Carolina which plays such a significant part in the book you might consider it a major character. Conroy sure-handedly depicts the city so that you can almost feel the racial and social tensions. He weaves themes of Catholicism, complicated family relations and the power of deep-rooted friendships throughout the book.

South of Broad offers up 500+ delicious pages of Pat Conroy, a master of compelling storytelling and exceptional writing. He gathers a wildly eclectic cast led by Leopold Bloom King whose father is the Great Santini’s opposite—a kind hearted man who cares for his son with tender and empathetic concern. His mother, on the other hand, is a former nun, principal of Leo’s high school, an expert in James Joyce (hence her son’s name) and about as brittle as a woman can be. That’s just the beginning. Leo is tortured by his older brother’s suicide, a reality that affects his every decision. His loneliness ends as he gathers a group of high school friends that become the rock of his life. South of Broad follows this group as they individually and collectively confront life alternating between 1969, as the friends embark on their senior year of high school, and 1989 as their lives have become increasingly complicated by among other things, Hollywood stardom, life-threatening illness, and social and racial prejudice. The pleasure in the book comes from the full development of Leo, known to his friends as Toad, whose moral compass never falters and who, through his strength of character, holds the group together. I hope we don’t have to wait another 14 years to hear from Pat Conroy, but if we must, I will rest comfortably with South of Broad for years to come. ~Wendee