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Groundskeeping (2022)

by Lee Cole

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
17911152,872 (3.6)3
Fiction. Literature. HTML:An indelible love story about two very different people navigating the entanglements of class and identity and coming of age in an America coming apart at the seamsâ??this is "an extraordinary debut about the ties that bind families together and tear them apart across generations" (Ann Patchett, best-selling author of The Dutch House).

In the run-up to the 2016 election, Owen Callahan, an aspiring writer, moves back to Kentucky to live with his Trump-supporting uncle and grandfather. Eager to clean up his act after wasting time and potential in his early twenties, he takes a job as a groundskeeper at a small local college, in exchange for which he is permitted to take a writing course.
 
Here he meets Alma Hazdic, a writer in residence who seems to have everything that Owen lacksâ??a prestigious position, an Ivy League education, success as a writer. They begin a secret relationship, and as they grow closer, Almaâ??who comes from a liberal family of Bosnian immigrantsâ??struggles to understand Owenâ??s fraught relationship with family and home. 
 
Exquisitely written; expertly crafted; dazzling in its precision, restraint, and depth of feeling, Groundskeeping is a novel of haunting power and grace from a prodigiously gifted young writer.
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» See also 3 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 11 (next | show all)
Actual ratting 3.85
Enjoyed Cole's writing style, and although not a lot happened in the book it kept my interest, and I became involved with the characters and how their decisions would impact them. The ending... ( )
  carolfoisset | Mar 25, 2023 |
Highly recommended for literary fiction readers; beautifully written, wise and insightful, great narrative. One of those books you don't want to end! ( )
  jghewson | Aug 16, 2022 |
There is a lot in this book - dreams not realized, class, ambition, family, work, place, creating an adult life. Cole portrayed each of these facets well. I wonder how much of the story is Cole's life and in the end, does it matter. The relationship between Owen and Alma was very real as were all his relationships. I also liked Owen's background of working so many jobs while all the time trying to see himself as a writer . As I write this, I realize I should give it five stars. ( )
  ccayne | Jun 25, 2022 |
Just my type of book. Set in Kentucky. Interesting people including the main character and a great support caste. Book about writers. ( )
  shazjhb | May 21, 2022 |
A book that makes you think. It's about a wannabe "coastal elite" who grew up in Kentucky and returns home under slightly ignoble circumstances - working as a groundskeeper in exchange for grad student tuition. He has a more privileged girlfriend who is also more successful as a writer. Some of the best scenes of the book are when he meets her family (upper-middle-class Bosnian immigrants) and she meets his (conservative, Southern Trump supporters who work at factories). The ending is ambiguous.
1 vote bearette24 | Apr 3, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 11 (next | show all)
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Fiction. Literature. HTML:An indelible love story about two very different people navigating the entanglements of class and identity and coming of age in an America coming apart at the seamsâ??this is "an extraordinary debut about the ties that bind families together and tear them apart across generations" (Ann Patchett, best-selling author of The Dutch House).

In the run-up to the 2016 election, Owen Callahan, an aspiring writer, moves back to Kentucky to live with his Trump-supporting uncle and grandfather. Eager to clean up his act after wasting time and potential in his early twenties, he takes a job as a groundskeeper at a small local college, in exchange for which he is permitted to take a writing course.
 
Here he meets Alma Hazdic, a writer in residence who seems to have everything that Owen lacksâ??a prestigious position, an Ivy League education, success as a writer. They begin a secret relationship, and as they grow closer, Almaâ??who comes from a liberal family of Bosnian immigrantsâ??struggles to understand Owenâ??s fraught relationship with family and home. 
 
Exquisitely written; expertly crafted; dazzling in its precision, restraint, and depth of feeling, Groundskeeping is a novel of haunting power and grace from a prodigiously gifted young writer.

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