Publisher
Knopf Publishing Group
A family drama set in Kentucky where the homecoming of two half-brothers—successful Joel with his restless wife Alice, and struggling Emmett—ignites a clash of ambitions and desires, exposing raw truths about class, privilege, and happiness in the American South.
What The Reviewers Say
There’s a desperate comedy to the characters’ efforts to stave off boredom by any means — crime, sex, conspiracy theories — and a nice fizzy energy to the way even secondary characters are on the make … Cole has an astute ear also for the verbal racket of modern life … From time to time, though, you can hear the clunk of the author pulling levers to advance the plot … The last 50 pages accelerate everything and wrap up all the plot points a bit too quickly. But that’s not fatal: endings are hard, and in a way all these manipulations are an extension of the book’s purpose. Why do we read if not to be taken for a ride by the author? Anyway, the scenes that result from these unlikely developments are funny and interesting, and the ending has a neatness that works, so we forgive them. Fulfillment is engaging, thoughtful and bang up-to-date.
Cole mixes the angst and insecurity of class and poverty to craft a Molotov cocktail he lobs with exacting precision. He juxtaposes breathtaking descriptions of the Appalachian countryside against the ravages of late-stage capitalism that have stripped the state’s soul to the bone.
Readers who enjoyed Cole’s keenly observed and insightful first novel and were left wanting more of the same—or very similar—will find it in this follow-up effort. Those hoping for something new from this talented author, however, may find fulfillment elusive. If you loved Cole’s first Kentucky-set novel about an endearing underachiever, you will enjoy his second.