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A review by anniesmanybooks
Groundskeeping by Lee Cole
4.0
Groundskeeping is a literary love story set against the backdrop of the U.S. election in 2016. Owen, a 28-year-old broke aspiring writer, moves back to Kentucky to live with his ailing grandfather and bad-tempered uncle. He takes a job on the groundskeeping crew at a small college, so he can attend a writing class for free. Owen falls in love with Alma, a visiting writer, but quickly realizes how different they are. Alma epitomizes “the liberal coastal elite” with her successful immigrant parents, her privileged upbringing, and Ivy League education while Owen’s folks are working class evangelical Trump supporters who have their doubts about evolution.
Lee Cole is so skilled at creating believable characters that it’s hard to believe this is a debut. Owen, Alma, and their families are drawn with wit and empathy, but the author doesn’t let anyone get off the hook for saying and doing questionable, even appalling, things. My favorite relatives were Owen’s softhearted grandpa who loves McDonalds and Western movies, and Alma’s father, a Bosnian dentist with dark family secrets and a fondness for Bruce Springsteen. The two “meet the parents” weekends are priceless highlights — tragicomical, revealing, and sometimes painful. With his carefully chosen details, Cole perfectly captures the thorny political and social rifts on campus and in American living rooms.
This is the kind of understated, compassionate novel about writers and lovers that fans of Lily King, Ann Patchett, and Elizabeth Strout will embrace. Keep an eye out for this thoughtful story about an odd couple doing the best they can in dangerous and uncertain times.
Many thanks to NetGalley and A.A Knopf for allowing me to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Release date: March 1.
Lee Cole is so skilled at creating believable characters that it’s hard to believe this is a debut. Owen, Alma, and their families are drawn with wit and empathy, but the author doesn’t let anyone get off the hook for saying and doing questionable, even appalling, things. My favorite relatives were Owen’s softhearted grandpa who loves McDonalds and Western movies, and Alma’s father, a Bosnian dentist with dark family secrets and a fondness for Bruce Springsteen. The two “meet the parents” weekends are priceless highlights — tragicomical, revealing, and sometimes painful. With his carefully chosen details, Cole perfectly captures the thorny political and social rifts on campus and in American living rooms.
This is the kind of understated, compassionate novel about writers and lovers that fans of Lily King, Ann Patchett, and Elizabeth Strout will embrace. Keep an eye out for this thoughtful story about an odd couple doing the best they can in dangerous and uncertain times.
Many thanks to NetGalley and A.A Knopf for allowing me to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Release date: March 1.