Tell Me A Story: A Literary Love Story by Cassandra King Conroy ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

"It's the way of beauty, I thought.  Destruction and devastation are always there, always demanding our attention.  The chaos of life makes us forget that sometimes, if we don't get too distracted by the wreckage, the losses and heartbreaks, we're offered a glimpse of something better, maybe even something we can call divine.  But we'll miss it if we forget that beauty, like joy, is fleeting and never lasts more than a moment. " (loc5893)

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

October 2019; William Morrow; 978-0062905628
audio, ebook, print (400 pages); memoir

Pat Conroy has been my favorite author since I read the first chapter of Prince of Tides. I was thrilled to meet him during two of his book tours and was able to meet Cassandra, his wife, at one of the tours. He gave the best talks about his books and had his readers laughing with him at some of his family stories. He also made his readers feel special because he talked to everyone while he was signing your book and inscribed it with something personal based on what you'd talked about. He would stay until every person in the signing line was gone and never seemed to be in a hurry when meeting his readers. When he died in 2016, the world lost a writer who had a mastery of words and experiences. His readers were sad at his passing and in this book, by his wife of 18 years, we learn more about him as a husband, father, and friend.

This beautiful book gives the reader a glimpse of the marriage of Cassandra and Pat Conroy. It begins when they first met and tells about the beginning of their relationship.  At first, they were good friends but that became a serious relationship.  Pat told everyone that they got married because he was tired of traveling to Alabama to see her.  After several failed marriages, Pat seemed to finally find joy and contentment in this marriage. He and his wife were well matched with the same sense of irreverent humor and with their love for their family and friends. I found it especially touching when she wrote about Pat's 70th birthday when Beaufort decided to hold a weekend-long celebration. Many of his friends came for the weekend and none of them knew that it was probably the last time they'd see him.

This book is an intimate glimpse into Pat and Cassandra's marriage and their love for each other. I cried and I laughed out loud while I read it and I'm so happy that he was able to leave behind such a wonderful legacy of stories about life in the Lowcountry that he loved so much.

"Cassandra reveals how the marshlands of the South Carolina Lowcountry ultimately cast their spell on her, too, and how she came to understand the convivial, generous, funny, and wounded flesh-and-blood man beneath the legend—her husband, the original Prince of Tides."

If you are a Pat Conroy or Cassandra King Conroy fan, this is a book that you don't want to miss.  Even if you've never read books by either of them, you don't want to miss this book about redemption through friendship and love.  Thanks to Cassandra for sharing so much of her life with Pat.  It must have a difficult book for her to write so soon after his death, but readers everywhere appreciate her and this book.

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Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina when she isn't traveling. She and her husband enjoy traveling, gardening and spending time with their family and friends. She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and thrillers. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook, Goodreads, or Twitter.

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