Set in Kentucky in the months leading up to and immediately following the 2016 presidential election, Groundskeeping is the story of love, class, and identity. Owen returns to Kentucky after working a Colorado forestry job. He finds employment as a groundskeeper at a small college, which allows him to take one class each semester. That’s where he meets Alma, a visiting writer-in-residence who faces her own challenges as a Bosnian immigrant. Together their stories add up to a fantastic debut novel by Lee Cole. I recently spoke with Cole about Groundskeeping. Here’s our conversation.

Groundskeeping by Lee Cole was published by Knopf.
Thanks for joining us for Marginalia. If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a review.
Marginalia was produced at KMUW Wichita.
- Mark Statzer and Torin Andersen - engineers
- Lu Anne Stephens - editor
- Haley Crowson - producer
- Beth Golay - host
Follow Beth Golay on Twitter @BethGolay.