Fulfillment - by Lee Cole (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

From the acclaimed author of Groundskeeping comes a searing 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.

Fulfillment tells the story of two half brothers--Joel, a successful academic and author, whose marriage is in deep trouble, and his younger sibling, Emmett, paralyzed by indecision and working in a shipping warehouse--who find themselves at their family home in Kentucky and upend each other's lives in devastating ways.

Between them is Alice, Joel's wife, a wry, passionate young woman whose dream of a small farm feels unattainable, and whose longing for a more authentic life collides with Emmett's hunger for connection and desire to escape a sense of burgeoning failure. As the chemistry between them escalates, the family is plunged into a violent crucible, each character brought to the precipice of immutable catastrophe.

Incisive, poignant, gorgeously crafted, Lee Cole's haunting novel about class, privilege, brotherhood, and the American South asks whether people can change, and at what cost, and what it takes to build a life of fulfillment and meaning.

Review Quotes

"An evocative tale of ambition, lust, and sibling rivalry in western Kentucky. . . . [Cole] writes gorgeously descriptive sentences." --Publishers Weekly

"Cole mixes the angst and insecurity of class and poverty to craft a Molotov cocktail he lobs with exacting precision." --Kirkus (starred review)

About the Author

LEE COLE was born and grew up in rural Kentucky. He is the author of the novel Groundskeeping. A recent graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he now lives in Philadelphia.