Charleston, S.C., gossip columnist Leopold Bloom King narrates a paean to his hometown and friends in Conroy's first novel in 14 years. In the late '60s and after his brother commits suicide, then 18-year-old Leo befriends a cross-section of the city's inhabitants: scions of Charleston aristocracy; Appalachian orphans; a black football coach's son; and an astonishingly beautiful pair of twins, Sheba and Trevor Poe, who are evading their psychotic father.
Tom Wingo, a high school football coach whose marriage and career are crumbling, flies to New York after learning of his twin sister's suicide attempt and realizes that while trying to save her, this may be his last chance to save himself as well.
Pat Conroy reflects on his life, focusing on his troubled relationship with his father, Don Conroy, and how they reached a rapprochement of sorts in the years before Don's death.
Tom Wingo, a high school football coach whose marriage and career are crumbling, flies to New York after learning of his twin sister's suicide attempt and realizes that while trying to save her, this may be his last chance to save himself as well.
