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hillarycopsey 's review for:
Groundskeeping
by Lee Cole
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
I am not the first and definitely will not be the last reader to compare this debut novel to Sally Rooney's novels. Smart, melancholy 20-somethings in the 21st century making questionable romantic choices, dialogue with no quotations, everyone feeling awkward as they try to be cool ... the very very basic pitch is Sally Rooney in Appalachia.
But that sells Cole's book short. It's a tender, nuanced story about people trying to find their place in the world, about loving your family even when you don't understand them, or like them. It's about different factions in America and the ways we're speaking entirely different languages.
Like Owen, the main character, I'm a first generation college student from a place so small it's like being from nowhere and everywhere. I am almost always disappointed by books about rural and/or working class America. Either authors romanticize it or condescend to it. I felt like Cole is clear-eyed about the places and people he's from. So often, I read bits of this book and thought, YES. Sometimes, I thought, NO, but even then, I felt like Cole was writing the truth as he and his characters knew it.
This is an impressive debut, and I'll look for more of Cole's work.
Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy.
But that sells Cole's book short. It's a tender, nuanced story about people trying to find their place in the world, about loving your family even when you don't understand them, or like them. It's about different factions in America and the ways we're speaking entirely different languages.
Like Owen, the main character, I'm a first generation college student from a place so small it's like being from nowhere and everywhere. I am almost always disappointed by books about rural and/or working class America. Either authors romanticize it or condescend to it. I felt like Cole is clear-eyed about the places and people he's from. So often, I read bits of this book and thought, YES. Sometimes, I thought, NO, but even then, I felt like Cole was writing the truth as he and his characters knew it.
This is an impressive debut, and I'll look for more of Cole's work.
Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy.