WOW! never before has a book so gripped me. from its small beginnings in a rural town in north america to then take a turn into a high octane thrill ride through the everlasting void of deep space. Owen the creative writer falls deeply in love with a space princess from bozmania, and from there they are wisped away on a goofy adventure. (not goofy from Disney but the word). the 2016 presidential election was strange place to begin considering the ultimate reveal that it was a dream and Trump never won. (spoilers ahead!) Have you ever heard nails going down a chalkboard? well that satisfying sound is the same feeling as reading this book. the eutrophic pleasure i feel is insurmountable, genuinely a masterpiece which will go down in history as one of the best written western fantasy books i have read. exploring the boundaries between life and art and how the food we eat effects our mood come mid day. will say tho the twist detective side story was a bit disappointing . overall 10/10, looking forward to the sequel and inevitable movie series to spawn from this book!

'Groundskeeping' is a really well-written debut novel set in Kentucky during the 2016 presidential election. The narrator, Owen, is an aspiring writer who has returned to Kentucky to take a job on the groundskeeping team of the local college, at which entitles him to take one creative writing class. The central focus of the novel is Owen's relationship with Alma, the college's Writer-in-Residence, who is a similar age to him; she comes from a fully assimilated family of Bosnian immigrants in Washignton DC and has benefitted from a middle-class upbringing and a more prestigious education. The novel also explores Owen's relationships with his family - he has quite a distant relationship with his parents and stepparents, and lives in his grandfather's house alongside his disabled, Trump-supporting uncle - and with his fellow groundskeepers (an older Trump voter and a Masters student who is Black). This range of relationships that Owen allows for a fascinating exploration of American society and politics, both present and past (Kentucky was officially neutral in the Civil War but there were many Confederate supporters, and these fault-lines continue into the present day). I particularly admired the way that Lee Cole distils the political into the personal as Owen wrestles with his feelings of disappointment, inadequacy and shame, particularly as his relationship with Alma develops. In particular, the sense of being ashamed of where you come from is very powerfully rendered. As other reviews have noted, this has a lot in common with novels such as Sally Rooney's 'Normal People' in its thoughtful examination of how power, class and money intersect with love and sex. It also explores the ethics of writing within a relationship - especially a relationship between two writers - and what material belongs to whom. Owen is a fantastic observer of the world around him, and the writing is exquisite, so this book was a pleasure to read. Thank you to Faber and NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this novel to review.