Buckeye
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY • “A glorious sweep of a novel” (Ann Patchett) that weaves the intimate lives of two midwestern families across generations, from World War II to the late twentieth century.
“Mesmerizing.”—People
“Captivating.”—The New York Times Book Review
“A once-in-a-decade novel . . . I fell in love with these characters.”—Jenna Bush Hager
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, NPR, People, Minnesota Star Tribune, Chicago Public Library
LONGLISTED FOR THE JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE
One town. Two families. A secret that changes everything.
In Bonhomie, Ohio, a stolen moment of passion, sparked in the exuberant aftermath of the Allied victory in Europe, binds Cal Jenkins, a man wounded not in war but by his inability to serve in it, to Margaret Salt, a woman trying to obscure her past. Cal’s wife, Becky, has a spiritual gift: She is a seer who can conjure the dead, helping families connect with those they’ve lost. Margaret’s husband, Felix, is serving on a Navy cargo ship, out of harm’s way—until a telegram suggests that the unthinkable might have happened.
Later, as the country reconstructs in the postwar boom, a secret grows in Bonhomie—but nothing stays buried forever in a small town. Against the backdrop of some of the most transformative decades in modern America, the consequences of that long-ago encounter ripple through the next generation of both families, compelling them to reexamine who they thought they were and what the future might hold.
Sweeping yet intimate, rich with piercing observation and the warmth that comes from profound understanding of the human spirit, Buckeye captures the universal longing for love and for goodness.
“Mesmerizing.”—People
“Captivating.”—The New York Times Book Review
“A once-in-a-decade novel . . . I fell in love with these characters.”—Jenna Bush Hager
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, NPR, People, Minnesota Star Tribune, Chicago Public Library
LONGLISTED FOR THE JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE
One town. Two families. A secret that changes everything.
In Bonhomie, Ohio, a stolen moment of passion, sparked in the exuberant aftermath of the Allied victory in Europe, binds Cal Jenkins, a man wounded not in war but by his inability to serve in it, to Margaret Salt, a woman trying to obscure her past. Cal’s wife, Becky, has a spiritual gift: She is a seer who can conjure the dead, helping families connect with those they’ve lost. Margaret’s husband, Felix, is serving on a Navy cargo ship, out of harm’s way—until a telegram suggests that the unthinkable might have happened.
Later, as the country reconstructs in the postwar boom, a secret grows in Bonhomie—but nothing stays buried forever in a small town. Against the backdrop of some of the most transformative decades in modern America, the consequences of that long-ago encounter ripple through the next generation of both families, compelling them to reexamine who they thought they were and what the future might hold.
Sweeping yet intimate, rich with piercing observation and the warmth that comes from profound understanding of the human spirit, Buckeye captures the universal longing for love and for goodness.
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Community Reviews
Buckeye is a beautifully written and emotionally powerful story that pulled me in from the first pages. Patrick Ryan captures family, identity, and trauma with honesty and depth, creating characters that feel incredibly real. The writing is vivid, engaging, and at times hard to put down. A moving and memorable read
Patrick Ryan’s “Buckeye” is a diorama of sorts of a period in American life from post-Depression to just past the Vietnam War. It travels through an idea of America through the ages. It deeply explores the America that destroys its families and young people through war. It is also the story of an America going through changes marked by social justice, economic upheaval, and technological innovation.
How fitting then is it that Buckeye takes place in a place like Ohio. A place so impacted by all these changes over time as to act as a visual history of our times. Patrick Ryan has included all the hallmarks of great novels. He covers multiple generations, every emotion in the spectrum, and deep philosophical questions about life purpose, meaning, belonging, and more.
By a third of the way through the book, I knew I wasn’t going to have a clean assessment of it that fit neatly into a rating or a review. This response has nothing to do with how I received the book in terms of enjoyment but instead what the author is challenging us to sit with. There is real meat on the bone here, and it often reminded me of Jonathan Franzen’s style and works.
Similarly, I find myself wrestling with the stories of people who I don’t readily identify with but can see and grasp their experiences as if they were right in front of me. Ultimately, the struggles, the joys, complex characters, and engaging chapters make this one a worthwhile read. The quote offered in the book by Thomas Aquinas speaks volumes for what Patrick Ryan was trying to convey in this book: “The things that we love tell us what we are.”
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