Buckeye: A Read with Jenna Pick - by Patrick Ryan (Hardcover)

About the Book

"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"--

Book Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY - A "mesmerizing" (People) novel that weaves the intimate lives of two midwestern families across generations, from World War II to the late twentieth century.

"A glorious sweep of a novel."--Ann Patchett
"Captivating."--The New York Times Book Review
"A once-in-a-decade novel . . . I fell in love with these characters."--Jenna Bush Hager

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.

Review Quotes

"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

"[A] luminous and tender 20th-century saga of wounded souls and small-town secrets."--The Guardian

"The combination of unconventional sex lives, sardonic wit and 20th-century American history recalls the early novels of John Irving . . . Ultimately, the triumph of his book is the way it captures the nature of mistakes, both the holes dug and the bridges built."--Financial Times

"Enhanced with a hazy sentimentality, Ryan's quiet drama conjures moral complexities behind the facade of carefully crafted mid-century lives."--The Washington Post

"This mesmerizing, tender novel follows two Ohio families from the 1920s through the '60s as they find and lose love and loved ones through what one character aptly calls 'the unraveling of time.'"--People, "Must-Read Books of Fall"

"Well-crafted and poignant . . . Buckeye draws the reader into its time and place and simply beguiles. This chronicle of leaving and loss, loving and forgiving, burns slowly and hopefully until the end."--BookPage

"Buckeye is a thing of wonder. It's my book of the year. I couldn't love it more."--Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of All the Colors of the Dark

"'Involving' and 'unbelievably well-written' are the best ways to describe Buckeye. It's the kind of book that reads like the culmination of a writer's career--a magnum opus of depth and care."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"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 laugh and all of this in abundance."--Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls and the North Bath trilogy

"Heartfelt and at times harrowing, Buckeye is both an absorbing portrait of an American past and a sympathetic exploration of what continues to sustain us and to plague us."--Alice McDermott, author of Absolution

"I've been yearning for a novel that connects the American generations who dealt with our two wars--one of Omaha Beach, the other of the la Drang Valley. Buckeye is that book, and it soars."--Tom Hanks

"Patrick Ryan conjures a vanished America with uncanny skill and writes with deep insight and lyrical intelligence...This is a novel to settle in with, a world unto itself."--Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children

"A deeply compassionate book . . . Patrick Ryan tells a story we very much need right now: how forgiveness might creep up--despite everything--over time, tender and elusive and ever-complex."--Emily Fridlund, author of History of Wolves

"Patrick Ryan has created a world, and characters, that exist inside me now, and as a reader that is my deepest joy. I could not recommend this book more highly."--Ann Napolitano, author of Hello Beautiful

"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."--Ann Patchett

"Filled with wit and emotion on every page, this is a stirring paean to the joys and sorrows of family."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"[A] tale that comes across as absolutely authentic and deeply satisfying."--Booklist, starred review

About the Author

Patrick Ryan is the author of the story collections The Dream Life of Astronauts (named one of the Best Books of the Year by the St. Louis Times-Dispatch, Literary Hub, Refinery29, and Electric Literature, and longlisted for The Story Prize) and Send Me. His work has appeared in The Best American Short Stories, the anthology Tales of Two Cities, and elsewhere. The former associate editor of Granta, he is the current editor-in-chief of the literary magazine One Story. He lives in New York City.