There's always a Damaged Mentally Ill Woman and always a Horribly Abusive Father and always Oh My God Mother Issues. And usually some weirdness with the Catholic Church. Some that show up in most, but not all, of his novels are Dead Brother, Inexplicable Jewish Character (often Damaged), and Backwoods Hillbillies With An Unbelievably Traumatic Past.

Hmmmm. Lords of Discipline has a Damaged Pregnant Woman but very little (arguably none) of any of the others. And the Damaged Pregnant Woman is Damaged mainly because she's Pregnant. Or maybe all of the Charlestonians are damaged in one way or another.

My bad. It's been more than 20 years since I read Lords of Discipline, so I disremembered it.

Still, in his novels other than Lords of Discipline, I stand by my criticism of the repeating themes.

If you ever have a chance to hear Pat Conroy speak, take it. He's very funny.

Diana Gabaldon was the opening speaker for the RWA conference last week, and I missed it! She was apparently hilarious.

Yeah, won't argue about his other novels.

I just looked up Conroy on Wikipedia. South of Broad is his first novel since Beach Music. Huh.

Ah, I'm into the third chapter of OOTP, and, oh boy, this sure is the one where Harry is ANGRY ALL THE TIME. Twenty-two discs to go!

I just looked up Conroy on Wikipedia. South of Broad is his first novel since Beach Music. Huh.

Yeah, he wrote a memoir and, I think, a cookbook in between them.

Oh boy, Knuffle Bunny Free. That one is a parent-killer.

Oh boy, Knuffle Bunny Free. That one is a parent-killer.

I was an idiot and read it stadning in the children's section at B&N - I don't even HAVE little kids, but it gutted me. I made my 19 y.o. daughter read it.

Mother-daughter bonding at its sniffliest?