by Pat Conroy, 1986

Our men’s book club chose this book for our March selection.  We previously did Conroy’s South of Broad so obviously someone on the selection committee likes Conroy.

This is the story of Tom Wingo who grew up in an abusive household in the lowlands of South Carolina with his sister, Savannah, and brother, Luke.  It also takes us to New York City where Savannah as an adult is hospitalized as a mental patient.

I found the book to be readable but overly long.  Conroy got very long-winded in some of the passages and the book could have been considerably shorter.  The book’s treatment of the subject of Savannah’s mental illness is fairly realistic although reading it in 2019 versus 1986 when it was written made it seem somewhat less compelling.  Luke also has some mental issues attributed to the abuse by his parents that he suffered while growing up.  There was no mention of PTSD even though he served as a SEAL in Viet Nam.  Tom, himself, is alternately hostile and compassionate.

The book certainly didn’t make me want to see the movie.  I also felt that I could have spent my time more productively reading something else.