Buckeye: A Read with Jenna Pick

A Novel

De: Patrick Ryan

Narrado por: Michael Crouch

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.

Life Lessons

Expect to cry. Expect to examine every major decision you've ever made in your life. Expect to examine every significant relationship you've ever had. Finally, expect to be moved to stay or get in contact with important people who've been a part of your life.

Middle America Mid-Century zeitgeist.

Spectacular storytelling. Narrator is pitch perfect. This story in Midwest between WWII and the end of the Vietnam War is a masterful remembrance of an America gone by.

Best book ever!

I didn’t want it to end! Couldn’t stop listening. Made me smile and cry. Mr Ryan please write another book!

A bland story well told

I found the characters well developed and I enjoyed the historical framing. The story itself was too bland for my liking.

Enjoyed this very much

This was a very pleasant listen, I cared about the characters quite a bit, it gets a little melancholy near the end.