Below is a summation of the members' reactions to this work.
South of Broad is the story of a group of friends, all misfits to a greater or lesser degree, who meet before beginning their senior year in high school in Charleston, S. C. in 1969. In 1989, one of their group, Sheba, calls upon the still-strong bonds friendship for help searching for her brother, Trevor, also a member of their group, who has not been heard from in months. His last known address is an apartment in San Francisco, a community now being ravaged by the AIDS epidemic. They all agree to travel together to the Bay City and bring Trevor back to Charleston. In many ways, South of Broad is about the 1960's cultural revolution as experienced by this group of talented, diverse personalities.
The Book Discussion members all enjoyed reading this selection, and the discussion ranged over the many issues of the era as highlighted by the story, including racial integration of schools and police forces, pedophilia by Catholic priests and parents, adultery, and AIDS. Everyone found the story and setting interesting and agreed that they would like to read other books by Conroy.
