Smart, funny, exhilarating. -- Lily King

'A bittersweet coming-of-age story and a lovely romance.' - Esquire

'Anne Tyler by way of Sally Rooney.' - New York Times

'A sterling novel that presages a major career, Groundskeeping puts a fresh spin on the divided self adrift in a divided nation . . . Cole paints in airy watercolours rather than bright acrylics; his touch is light, restrained, but always authoritative and precise . . . [An] exacting, beautifully textured debut.' -- Hamilton Cain - The New York Times Book Review

'A deeply American, of-the-moment novel written with such exquisite language that it seems destined to break the bounds of time.' - Vulture

'A very fine work indeed from an exciting new voice . . . Groundskeeping is not only the story of a young man finding his vocation as a writer but also a wrenching examination of class differences, that third-rail topic in American literature, and of our current political polarization.' - The Washington Post

'It's frankly preposterous this is a debut novel when Lee Cole's writing has such ease and authority and his storytelling rings so true. A coming-of-age story inextricably bound with a love story, Groundskeeping gets at the hard work of finding your place in the world, the burden and exhilaration of fighting for who you might be.' -- MAGGIE SHIPPSTEAD

'A smart, funny, exhilarating debut about that time in life when you are clawing your way to a future that feels murky and impossible to reach. Lee Cole takes a hard look at our fraught cultural moment, our divides large and small, with fresh insight and wisdom and tenderness. I truly loved it.' -- Lily King

'It's one thing for a writer to have a great eye and another for him to know what it's for. Lee Cole's constantly roving eye is sharp and unerring and it misses exactly nothing. He witnesses with great sympathy the painful passage between youth and adulthood that leaves us all the worse for wear.' -- Richard Russo

'Cole's novel is more than a love story or a coming-of-age tale. Written with superb attention to detail and subtle emotional complexities, the book also offers a lovingly nuanced look at America - its longtime residents and recent immigrants; its ramshackle rural beauty, urban revival, and suburban safety; and its generous opportunities for reinvention. In the end, it is a love letter to home . . . Perceptive and endearing, this novel signals the arrival of a talented new voice in fiction.' - Kirkus Reviews [starred review]

'Cole's nimble debut combines elements of Southern fiction, the campus novel, and youthful romance . . . This is the strongest story about young writers in love since Andrew Martin's Early Work.' - Publishers Weekly

'With brilliant descriptions of the rural South, Cole's slow burn of a debut novel achingly explores the definition of home, fate, and our shared humanity.' - Booklist [starred review]

''This is the strongest story about young writers in love since Andrew Martin's Early Work.'' - The Millions

''The novel is quietly beautiful, brimful of emotional insight into love, life changes and the meaning of home.'' - Daily Mirror

'An incredibly accomplished debut, a beautiful book filled with love, friendship, art, and family. A debut that announces a great new talent who writes as fluently about the cosmopolitan as he does blue collar Kentucky.' -- NICKOLAS BUTLER