Buckeye: A Novel
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(as of Oct 03, 2025 19:22:24 UTC – Details)
NATIONAL BESTSELLER READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY “A small-town novel of epic proportions” (Tom Perrotta), this captivating story weaves the intimate lives of two midwestern families across generations, from World War II to the late twentieth century.
“I love this book with my entire heart.”—Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful
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.
Customers say
Customers find this book easy to read and well-written, with true-to-period emotional responses that make them laugh and cry. They appreciate the character development, pacing, and story length, with one customer noting it’s a love story that spans generations. The book receives positive feedback for its historical content, with one review highlighting how well the historical references are handled.
Amazon Customer –
Wonderful book
What a wonderfully written book. Vibrant in historyand characters. Will make you laugh and cry.Highly recommend. I couldn’t put it down!
Ginger Russell –
Good Book
This is well-written and thoughtful. I am not a big fan of books about personal and family drama, and that’s pretty much what this is. It follows two families from the 1920s through WWII and the postwar years, through Vietnam, and eventually ends in the 1980s. The story includes just about everything, affairs, a medium who communicates with the dead, and so on. I did keep reading it to see what would happen in the end, and I thought it was reasonably enjoyable.
Rachel Glazer-DeRovira –
Incredible amazing book 5+ stars
5+ stars for this amazing and beautifully written book that just captures you from the first page and never let go. In fact I didnât want the book to end. I would slowly when I was getting to the end so that I could cherish each word in each page. Reading this book, you get so entrenched into the characters lives in their feelings. The author has an amazing ability to let you feel what they are feeling their pain, their sorrow, their grief, their happiness, and all the moments in between. I would give this book more than five stars if itâs possible such a memorable read, and when I will never forget highly recommend.
Kindle Customer –
I couldn’t put it down.
This was such a good book. It took me back to my own upbringing with all the untold secrets and how they were dealt with. This was quite a tear jerker.
Delores Overholt –
hard to find meaning
I had to plod through this book trying to find a meaning. I found it in the last few paragraphs and I closed the book with a sense of peace.
Pamela Shrewsbury –
Historical fiction
ð⨠Book Review â¨ðBuckeyeby Patrick Ryanâï¸âï¸âï¸âï¸Set in the quiet town of Bonhomie, Ohio, Buckeye tells the story of the Jenkins and Salt families, whose lives become forever intertwined after an innocent kiss celebrating the Allied victory in Europe during World War II. The novel follows them over four decades, weaving together love, loss, small-town gossip, and the secrets that shape us. From WWII to the Vietnam era, Ryan shows how choices ripple through generations and how forgiveness often arrives in unexpected ways.Ryanâs writing blends humor with heartbreak. One page youâre smiling at the quirks of small-town life, and the next youâre hit with a line that makes your chest ache. The characters feel so real, like neighbors youâve known forever, and the way their lives overlap makes the story impossible to put down. Itâs a powerful novel about how quiet lives are shaped by major moments in history, and a tender look at the search for love, connection, and forgiveness. I couldnât put it down, and I donât think you will either.
PainterSam –
Wow. Just wow!
Hang on, Iâll be right back after I pick my heart up off the floor. This is easily one of the best books Iâve read this year⦠Actually, it shoots straight to the top of my all time favorites.Buckeye is a rare gem: a story that never âjumps the shark,â never makes you roll your eyes. It leaves you wishing it would go on forever so you never have to say goodbye to the characters.Patrick Ryan has crafted an old-school, whole hearted family drama at its finest. The storytelling is rich and deeply human. As an Ohioan and a Buckeye, I especially loved the historical touches about Ohio woven throughout, but make no mistake, this is a book for everyone, whether you live in a small town or a city.If youâre looking for fiction that anchors you in a world of real people, real struggles, and real heart, Buckeye is it.
M. Hoffbauer –
This Story Took a Piece of My Heart
When this story ended, it took a small piece of my heart with it.The book sounded intriguing, so during one of Ann Patchettâs weekly Instagram updates, when she said she was interviewing the author on 9/4/25, I made plans to head to Parnassus Books in Nashville. The event did not disappoint! Patchett and Ryan have been friends for decades (the book is dedicated to her and her husband) so the conversation was deep and personal and lovely to witness. (They taped it so perhaps it can be found online.) I learned so much about the back story and the motivation and got a small taste of the research Patrick did in order to write this gorgeous work. (The monkey was based on a monkey of the same name, in a similar situation.)The story covers three generations, two families, the effects of three wars, a slew of secrets and what it means to live with those secrets. The people are flawed, their lives are messyâjust like the rest of usâbut they get through things, mostly, with love.I found the characters to be multidimensional and I grew to love them. I also found the setting to be a character in itself, having spent most of my life in Dayton. And my husband is from Tiffin, so we could picture the area well, from the buckeye trees to the pawpaws and even the Midwestern culture that resonates throughout the novel.Though the story was long, it moved and never felt like it dragged. I was sorry when it ended.Ryan says he spent eight years on this work. I hope his next novel comes about a bit more quickly.
Snapdragon –
This, as people say, is a soaring jewel of a book. In deep, quiet tones it wends its way through the lives of two interlinked families in small town America from before WWII to about 1976. These people may be ordinary in their attachments, disattachments, hopes, yearnings and whatever else humans do, but through them, Patrick Ryan shows us not only the social history of America at that time (which illuminates a good deal of its present) but the human condition itself. It is as gently profound as itâs possible to be, cutting us to our quicks and re-making our souls. One of the truly great novels.
Lynne Blamires –
I really loved this book, I couldn’t put it down once I got into the story.