What readers think of Buckeye, plus links to write your own review.

It was just a kiss. A kiss on VE day in May 1945 when World War II ended in Europe. A kiss in the basement of a hardware store in Bonhomie, Ohio because that is where the only radio was located. And that one kiss between Cal and Margaret—each unhappily married to other people—changed everything.

It was just a kiss.

Written by Patrick Ryan, this book was published with a lot of hype, and it turns out that hype is true. This is a really, really good book. It is the story of two couples—Cal and Becky and Felix and Margaret. With that one kiss and more that followed, the lives of these families became forever intertwined.

Margaret Anderson is an orphan. Her mother left her in a basket on the steps of an orphanage in a small Ohio town, and she was never adopted, although she did live with various, often frightening foster families. When she turns 18, she moves to the big city of Columbus and discovers the joy of sex. Upon meeting handsome, muscular Felix Salt, she realizes he is different. He's a gentleman. After just a few months, he proposes in the middle of the Lazarus department store. Margaret doesn't love him, but she sees a future with him so she agrees to marry him. Meanwhile, Felix is harboring dark secrets of his own that he hopes Margaret will never discover. Felix is on the fast track with his employer, who moves them to the small town of Bonhomie, Ohio. They buy a house. They begin their lives. And then World War II interrupts everything. Felix comes home a very different kind of man.

Cal Jenkins, who was born with one leg two inches shorter than the other, marries the first girl he ever dates, but he and Becky are madly in love and ecstatic with one another. In short order, they have a son—a junior they nickname Skip. Becky has an unusual gift. She can commune with the dead. Cal works in his father-in-law's hardware store, and is miffed and embarrassed when no military branch will accept him. And on VE day, Margaret can tell there is some big news afoot, so she rushes into the hardware store, assuming it would have a radio.

It was just a kiss.

The novel follows these four people from the 1920s to the 1970s, as the bigger world around them changes and as their smaller worlds implode in a small Ohio town where secrets are difficult to keep. The news events—from World War II and the economic and baby booms that followed to the big societal changes of the 1960s and the Vietnam War—are juxtaposed against the characters' lives in ways that range from hilarious to hopeful and joyful to tragic.

The characters are vibrant, the plot engaging, and the writing accomplished. Keen insight and superb pacing make this a captivating read. This is a novel filled with love and passion and the indomitable human spirit where one can always long for forgiveness and hope.

This book is also a love letter to the Buckeye state—for all those who once lived in Ohio, live in Ohio now, or hope someday to make it home.

Quite simply, this just might be the Great American Novel. Read it!

I read this book described as an "old-fashioned American novel" in a good way. It's an epic family drama beginning with the WWII period through Vietnam and beyond.

Two families become intertwined after an impulsive kiss sets off a series of events that will reverberate for years to come, when secrets are held close and then not. It's a tale of love, betrayal, and forgiveness. It's also about the times- the decades that roll by with social and political upheaval.
I was personally moved by the period of the Vietnam War and how a mother aches when her son is off to war. It brought back memories of my own brother volunteering for Vietnam.

If you liked books like Steinbeck's East of Eden, you will want to sit down with this one!

“The world will always bring you back into perspective, if you only bother to let it.”

Even though there is quite a bit of contention throughout the wonderful new novel #buckeye by Patrick Ryan @patrickryannyc, the journey still feels like a warm hug. I loved these characters, and the time I spent with them. Some (Becky, Felix) more than others (Cal, Margaret) but loved them just the same. #buckeye is one of those big-hearted, sprawling novels that you can’t wait to get to, stay up late to read and have the worst hangover when you’re done. I finished last night, and am still thinking about the Jenkins's and the Salts.

Cal Jenkins and Margaret Salt are drawn to each other, mostly b/c of individual crises. Crises that may not seem earth-shattering or life-changing, but to them, they most certainly are. I can understand the choices they make at this time. However, their actions have wide-reaching consequences, and like dominoes, cascading effects, over multiple lives. It seemed to me that how they dealt with these effects spoke to their integrity. Yet it could be that it is easier for the Cals of the world vs. the Margaret's, and maybe Cal had a softer place to land. There is definitely some gender-inequality here in the 1950s.

Still, it was hard to understand Margaret, despite what I knew about her.

“Over and over, she’d learned that what the dead most often conveyed was love and forgiveness.”

So there, I think is my lesson – in forgiveness.

Do yourself a favor, and jump into this novel. It’s fabulous.

P. S. Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC.

I’ll admit to deciding to read Buckeye when Jenna Bush picked it for her book club and seeing the high marks it had on GR. Praise from Ann Napolitano, Ann Patchett, Chris Whitaker and Jess Walter didn’t hurt either. And for once, all the praise is well deserved.

The book is a family saga covering forty years, stretching from WWII through the Vietnam War. It revolves around two couples. Cal, whose physical ailment prohibited from enlisting and his wife Becky, who communicates with the dead. The other couple are Felix and Margaret. While Felix serves in the Pacific, Margaret kisses Cal to celebrate VE Day. And from there, everything plays out.

The joy of this book is how much I was invested in these characters. Everyone has secrets. Not everyone handles those secrets well. I loved what it had to say about the way war affected everyone.

Ryan has managed to craft a story that feels at once ordinary but also so pertinent and meaningful. Every single one of the six main characters just felt so damn real.
The writing is exquisite. These little jewels of almost poetry, embedded in the story. I was highlighting paragraphs like crazy. It totally captures the times, especially the Vietnam War. It’s proof that a really good book can be quiet, not having to rely on major explosions of drama.

There is so much depth here. It tackles guilt, abandonment, identity, forgiveness. It’s a book that begs to be discussed. It’s also one of my favorites of 2025.
My thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

BUCKEYE
By Patrick Ryan
Read by Michael Crouch

A slow-paced family drama, Buckeye interweaves the lives of two married couples in the small town of Bonhomie, Ohio, over a span of thirty years. A chance encounter between Cal Jenkins and Margaret Salt on VE Day sets the stage for this intimate and layered story.

We are introduced to Cal’s wife, Becky, who possesses a spiritual gift, and Margaret’s husband, Felix, who is serving aboard a Navy cargo ship. The consequences of a long-held secret become the thread that binds these families together. Can secrets remain buried forever?

Even though the story takes its time, I really enjoyed the journey. Patrick Ryan’s prose captures the emotional depth and realism of these nuanced characters. His descriptions are vivid—clear and deeply felt—bringing each moment to life. While the story begins slowly, the pace picks up noticeably in the final portion. I found myself liking some characters more than others, but Ryan does a superb job exploring the complexities of each one.

Michael Crouch‘s narration was perfectly done for this story. He leaned into the reflective tone, allowing the prose to speak for itself—and I really liked that.

Themes of family, identity, secrets, memory, war, marriage, and small town life are woven throughout. I look forward to seeing what Patrick Ryan does next.

Two strangers meet have an innocent kiss as they hear of the end of World War II. So the story begins in a small town in Ohio. Cal Jenkins was unable to serve in WWII because of one of his legs was shorter than the other. He marries Becky who becomes a spiritualist, who can communicate with the dead. We meet Margaret who had a very difficult childhood going from one foster family to another.

She marries Felix Salt who serves in the Navy. She receives a telegram that her husband’s ship has been attacked in the Philippines. This is a sweeping novel of two families facing the turmoil of two wars and dealing with everyday life. Beautifully written with well developed characters. This story will just draw you in to the atmosphere of a small town. It is a captivating story of love, loss and grief. This story will stay with you for a long time.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for this advanced readers copy.

A mostly character-driven novel, BUCKEYE does not suffer from what so many other character-driven novels do: as I call it, the "first-this-happened-then-that-happened-then-this-happened-etc. syndrome." In other words, they're boring. They concentrate on the characters, alone, and there is no story, no plot. But BUCKEYE's characters are more interesting because they have a story.

This story is told from the perspectives of six main characters. Cal grows up under bad circumstances but rises above them. He marries Becky, a kind and thoughtful, some would say wonderful person. Margaret grows up under bad circumstances and stays unhappy and unsatisfied into adulthood. She marries Felix, a kind and successful man with money who is trying to hide and even overcome his homosexuality. Eventually, two more characters come along: Becky has a baby who they call Skip, and Margaret has Thomas.

The circumstances of Thomas's birth become known to Cal and Becky and Margaret and Felix, but the four of them keep the secret from their children for many years. They keep the secret for too long.

BUCKEYE is the best kind of character-driven novel. You'll care about each character. And you'll keep reading because you'll care about their story.