What I thought was going to be a lovely (assumed romance) novel about Charleston, soon turned into an unexpected adventure of characters' lives and experiences.
Pat Conroy, author of "The Prince of Tides," surpassed any expectations I had for "South of Broad."
The story involves Leopold Bloom King, named after a character in the infamous "Ulysses" by James Joyce. Leopold's mother, Dr. Lindsay King, is a Joyce scholar and also Leopold's principal at the high school. His father, Jasper, a Citadel alumnus, is a science teacher at the same school.
The tale begins Bloomsday, June 16, 1969. While on his (Charleston) News and Courier paper route biking down historical Charleston streets, Leopold reveals his past history and slightly gives himself a pity party in his first (of many) internal monologues. (Although, I have to give it to Leopold, I would have a pity party every day had I found my older brother and best friend in a bathtub of his own blood at the age of 8.) Leopold was eternally marked by this suicidal event, then 8 years later, caught with a pound of cocaine at his first high school party which led him to probation and psychological treatments until the summer of '69.
On this regular, but special day, Leopold is introduced to a line of characters that will play roles and impact him for the rest of his life.
Fourth of July, 1969, the Kings celebrate Leopold's end of probation (from his cocaine incident). Meet St. Judes' finest, Starla and Niles Whitehead, orphan runaways from the mountains, and Betty Roberts, a black orphan; Charlestonian elites Fraser and Chad Rutledge, and Chad's girlfriend, Molly Huger, also an elitest; the eccentric twins that moved across the street from the Kings, Sheba and Trevor Poe; and Ike Jefferson, son of the new black head football coach at the high school.
The Independence Day party ironically turns Leopold into an independent leader that night. He helps with desegregation, new to Charleston high schools, he brings the high-society kids together with orphans and brings the twins into friendship with others they've never had before.
It was this unusual group of friends that had me eager to keep reading the next page, the next chapter, the next part. Conroy's use of whimsical descriptions of characters and events kept me wanting to read more. I had a nine-hour flight across the pond, yet that was barely enough time to finish this fascinating novel.
All 512 pages of this book were shocking, but in a splendid way. I never expected to be so entranced by a novel that talked of suicide, drug use and the HIV epidemic in San Francisco, Catholic mass, sexual and physical abuse. The Citadel, high school football, romance and Hollywood movie stars. The list is just a teaser of so much more.
When I was young, my father told me of his experiences at the Citadel; "South of Broad" just enhanced my love of Charleston beyond what I ever anticipated. I delighted in reading scenes where I could picture locations in Charleston.
When I visit again, I will have another new perspective of Charleston. Conroy's Charleston.
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