Groundskeeping: A Read with Jenna Pick

A novel

By: Lee Cole

Narrated by: Michael Crouch

A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK • 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 seams—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 lacks—a prestigious position, an Ivy League education, success as a writer. They begin a secret relationship, and as they grow closer, Alma—who comes from a liberal family of Bosnian immigrants—struggles to understand Owen’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.

Unusual setting & story

Written with sensitivity and good character development. A bit too drawn out but leaves the reader wondering at the conclusion.

Insufferable main characters

Both Owen and Alma are whiny and pretentious. If the author was trying to show how the educated elite wrongly think highly of themselves then it was a success but somehow I don’t think that was his intent. Owen stealing from his Grandpa, failing to help him that contributed to his death, showing no compassion for his uncle (who had obvious challenges that contributed to his behavior), being completely inept when it came to the car breakdown and showing such little appreciation for his step dad ability and willingness to fix it…the list goes on. And Alma…my back hurts and how dare you write better and before me. Blah.

A book about a place that never was!

Lee Cole’s first 2 sentences of the book, drew me in right away. “When I’m home, in Kentucky, all I want to do is leave. When I’m away, I’m homesick for a place that never was.
That is how I have felt since leaving Paducah, KY in 2012. I never knew how to describe it, but Lee describes perfectly.

It is a bittersweet love story of two very different young people finding their way. Owen’s struggles with his conservative, small town upbringing has him searching for himself.
During his search he works as a groundskeeper, lives with his grandfather, and meets a girl, Alma that becomes a very important relationship.

I enjoyed the book and Lee’s writing style. Being from the same area he is describing and having been to some of the places he named by name, I had to remind myself this was fiction.

The ending left you not knowing, yet in your heart you know what Owen is going to do.

A very good read!!!❤️

Beautifully written

Great characters; compelling story. Lee Cole is a fabulous new author with a unique perspective on the South.

Loved it!

I loved the brutal honesty in the story and I loved the narrator. Such a nice voice.