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A Novel
by Patrick Ryan
Book Reviewed by:"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.
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.
Excerpt
Buckeye
Cal Jenkins was born in the spring of 1920 with one leg shorter than the other. Just two inches shorter, but that was enough to make plenty of things difficult. Balancing on a bicycle took twice as long for him to learn as it did for other kids. Track and field was out of the question. So was walking without a pronounced limp or going up and down a set of stairs without securing himself on the railing—until his father, amateur carpenter and junk collector, improved Cal's condition by carving a new, thicker sole out of tire rubber and nailing it onto his left shoe. At school, boys made fun of the way Cal walked, then made fun of the shoe with the extra-thick sole (someone noticed within an hour of the first day he wore it). But one boy—flush-cheeked and small for his age—pulled Cal aside during morning assembly and told him he was unique in God's eyes. "I know," the boy said, "because I am too. I can't touch my toes, you see. I have unusually tight ...
It’s June, and it’s therefore Pride month. Name a book you’ve enjoyed that features an LGBTQ+ main character
When I typed up this question (just before hitting the hay last night) I briefly thought, "Gee, I wonder when the last time was that I read a book featuring an LGBTQ+ character? Have I ever?" Hahaha… obviously my brain doesn't work after 9:00 PM. Scanning my list, over the past year I've read at ...
-kim.kovacs
Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award 2026
Here is an interesting award recognizing distinguished fiction that tells American stories in a uniquely American voice, one that reflects Mark Twain's incisive curiosity and humanity. Celebrating its tenth year. Longlist 2026 Are You Happy?: Stories — Lori Ostlund Atavists: Stories — Lydia Mille...
-Anne_Glasgow
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (4/30/2026)
I just finished BUCKEYE by Patrick Ryan. I submitted a review to Bookbrowse the other day. Now I just started an ARC of THE CALAMITY CLUB by Kathryn Stockett. Only 20 pages in.
-Techeditor
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (3/19/2026)
I started Buckeye by Patrick Ryan this week. I was intrigued by the popularity of the book - and I am a native Ohioan. I lived in Columbus as a young career woman (and then engaged/ma...
-Diane_Jones
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (2/26/2026)
...ding THE CROSSROADS by CJ Box. Just finished PARABLE OF THE SOWER by Octavia Butler for a book group discussion last evening. Good discussion. I read BUCKEYE by Patrick Ryan last week and enjoyed it.
-Dotti_A
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (2/12/2026)
I'm still catching up on the great reads of 2025! Just finished Buckeye by Patrick Ryan.
-Elizabeth_L
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (1/29/2026)
I am rereading Buckeye by Patrick Ryan for a discussion. Very good.
-Holly_K
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (1/22/2026)
...f this one address as WWII begins and continues. Characters are interesting as are the different ways they handle the Nazi invasion. Last week I read Buckeye by Patrick Ryan, Really liked it—a good, old-fashioned multi-generational story, well told. And before that, was There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak. Excellen...
-Judith_G
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (11/27/2025)
I finished Buckeye by Patrick Ryan last night and still savoring the story filled with so many characters. It's a wonderful book. Next up is Cursed Daughters and A Redbird Christmas.
-Melinda_J
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (10/23/2025)
Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. Very well written.
-Marcia_Kirby
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (09-18-2025)
I finished Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. I know it has glowing reviews, but it was not for me. I listened to The Poppy Fields on audiobook and loved it. Now, I'm starting Death At The White...
-Cheri_Mcelroy
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (09-11-2025)
I'm currently listening to Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. I'm two hours into the story but it hasn't quite grabbed me yet. I also have The Stars at Noon by Denis Johnson waiting in the wings.
-Sunny
What are you reading this week? (8/28/2025)
I am reading Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. I am enjoying it so far.
-Maureen_Connolly
What are you reading this week? (8/7/2025)
As a native Ohioan (born in Mansfield), I'll have to check out Buckeye by Patrick Ryan! I love your other choices, too, Kim!
-Diane_Jones
Beyond the vivid images he paints, Ryan's talent is in making his readers care about his characters' relatively mundane lives. Nothing truly extraordinary happens to any of them—or perhaps it's more accurate to say that the earth-shattering events they experience are common to many and, indeed, are largely expected...Ryan instead keeps attention focused on how the characters react to each figurative bump in the road, separately and together, and how each reaction reverberates across time...continued
Full Review
(692 words)
(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
Alice McDermott, author of Absolution
Heartfelt and at times harrowing, Buckeye is both an absorbing portrait of an American past and a sympathetic exploration of what continues to sustain usand to plague us. There are no heroes or villains, only recognizably human creatures ... each one flawed, noble, confused, passionate, lonely, loving, and, above all, real. Ann Patchett
Full of love and war and the perilous intimacies of smalltown life, Buckeye is funny and tender, realistic and strange. Patrick Ryan has long been one of my favorite writers. I have a feeling that with this book he's going to be everyone's favorite writer. Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls and the North Bath trilogy
Buckeye offers just about everything I look for in a great story: a vivid setting, historical sweep, rich characters who break your heart even as they make you laughand all of this in abundance.
The title of Patrick Ryan's novel, Buckeye, is the nickname of one of the book's characters. Two young boys, Skip and Tom, gather buckeye nuts from their yard, sneak into an abandoned mill, and slingshot them at various targets from its roof. Just when Skip thinks they'll have to stop because they're out of ammunition, he discovers Tom stowed a bunch in his socks. "He called Tom 'Buckeye' from that day on."
The Ohio buckeye, Aesculus glabra, is a tall, medium-to-fast-growing tree native to the Midwest. Its soft, lightweight wood is ideal for crafting into small objects like knife handles or bowls, and it was also used for artificial limbs until the advent of lightweight plastics. The tree is named after the nut it produces (also ...
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