Buckeye

A Novel

De: Patrick Ryan

Narrado por: Michael Crouch

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.

©2025 Patrick Ryan (P)2025 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“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.”—Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls and the North Bath trilogy

“I love this novel with my entire heart. Patrick Ryan has created a world, and characters, that exist inside me now, and as a reader that is my deepest joy. Buckeye tells the story of two families across sixty years of American history; the novel is wise and heartbreaking and full of wonderful characters who struggle across decades—as we all do—to live as their whole selves. I could not recommend this book more highly.”—Ann Napolitano, author of Hello Beautiful

“Omniscient, sweeping, almost defiantly sentimental, Buckeye is a reminder of the deep pleasure of following a cast of characters over their entire lives, through births, deaths, marriages, tragedies and, in this case, hard-won reconciliations. . . The author clearly loves these people, and he makes the safe bet that you will, too.”—The New York Times Book Review

Excellent writing. Fabulous delivery!

The set up of the complex characters and intertwined relationships never failed to keep interested. I was sorry when it ended but felt richer for having read it.

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.

Had to move to Kindle. Terrible Narration.

So monotone. Ended each sentence I’m the same mundane uptone! Moved to kindle to enjoy the story

Sadly life isn’t as we plan. Happily it is likely the good news.

Disliked the child abandonment as it is so debilitating to children and changes their lives forever.

Best book of the year

Just a great story with well-written characters. I combined listening and reading the hard copy, which I recommend.

Remembering that which we worked so hard to forgot

A book filled with memories, laced with emotions and contrasts of sadness, life's triumphs and the will to look forward.

Outstanding

This book was so touching on so many levels. I will never forget it.
Highly recommend

Buckeye

Loved it would read it again would highly recommend anxious to hear author talk about it

The Human Condition

This book is full of heart while exploring many facets of the human condition. Patrick Ryan follows his characters through history, including two wars that significantly impacted these generations. Many facets of life, relationships, sexuality, parenting, success, and failure are treated with love and forgiveness.

I need to be honest here

I did listen to the whole book because I kept waiting for something. I feel the entirety of the story could have been told in the first three chapters. It was predictable. I can see where the author built up the characters but then what? It had good potential but I just didnt really find it in this book. I have to be honest as I usually rate my books high. I’m curious to see what other people think.