Our narrator, Leo, loves his home town of Charleston, South Carolina. Leo had a traumatic childhood. He finds his older brother dead from a suicide, wrists slit open, in the bathtub. His life spirals after that. His mother seems to not care about Leo, he ends up being arrested for a crime he didn't commit, he spends some time in a mental institution, and he does his community service by taking care of a cantankerous old man.
His mother is the principal at the high school Leo attends, and in the 1960s desegregation is just beginning. Leo becomes friends with an unlikely group of kids. New neighbors, Trevor and Sheba, who live with there alcoholic mother. Starla, Niles, and Betty live in an orphanage in town. Ike is the son of the new (African American) football coach. And Chad, Molly, and Fraser are from rich, upperclass families from South of Broad, who got in trouble at their private school and must now attend Leo's school.
South of Broad switches back and forth from the 60s to the 80s, as Leo outlines the progression of the relationships within this mismatched group. There seem to be more "downs" than "ups" for most of them. From the racial tensions of the 1960s South, to the aids epidemic in 1980s San Francisco, to Hurrican Hugo in 1989, the story is a saga, as well as an homage to Charleston.
Conroy's writing draws you into the lives of these people and the atmosphere of Charleston in the 60s. If you haven't read any of his novels, I will recommend him -- as he was recommended to me. South of Broad was not one of his better-received novels, although certainly a best-seller, so I'll be sure to seek out another of his novels soon.
Published by Nan A. Telese, 2009
Copy obtained from a gift
514 pages
Rating: 5/5
I have only read Prince of Tides by Conroy and really liked it. I'll have to add this one to my TBR list.
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