Book Review
Buckeye by Patrick Ryan
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: September 2, 2025
Format: Hardcover - 464 pages
Paperback - 656 pages
Kindle - 451 pages / 3.6 MB
Audiobook - 15 Hours 44 Minutes
Nook - 464 pages / 5 MB
ISBN (Hardcover): 978-0593595039
ISBN (Paperback): 979-8217169979
ASIN (Kindle): B0DM4KN6PP
ASIN (Audiobook): B0DNLNZWTR
ISBN (Nook): 978-0593595046
Genre: Historical Fiction
Buy The Book:
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review, in addition to purchasing a hardcover copy of the book from my monthly subscription to Book Of The Month.
Book Description:
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.
My Book Review:
Buckeye is a beautifully written historical fiction story about two families whose lives are intertwined throughout the decades from World War II through 1981.
Cal Jenkins is unfit to serve in the military because one leg is shorter than the other, and it haunts him that he can't do his duty. Cal remains in his small hometown of Bonhomie, Ohio, and marries his girlfriend Becky who has a special ability of being able to communicate with the dead. Cal works at his father-in-law's hardware store.
Margaret was dropped off at an orphanage as a baby in Doyle, Ohio, and had been in foster care many times throughout the years. When she turns eighteen, she wants to escape her past, so she leaves Doyle for Columbus and does not share her past with anyone. Margaret meets Felix Salt, a junior executive at an aluminum plant. Margaret and Felix get married and move to Bonhomie when Felix is promoted and life is good until Felix enlists and is sent to the Pacific to work on a cargo ship.
Cal and Margaret meet when she comes into the hardware store to hear the announcement that Germany had surrendered to the Allied Forces. They share an unexpected celebratory kiss, but their serendipitous chance meeting leads to actions and secrets that have future consequences for both of their families throughout the years.
This is a multilayered story that is so poignant, the reader can't help but get caught up in the Jenkin and Salt family stories throughout the years. The reader will be taken on an emotional rollercoaster ride as the families go through so much, it is such a stunning story. I would be remiss if I didn't mention how much I appreciated the author's detailed description of the historical events and nostalgia that he included throughout the decades.
Buckeye is a story of choices, decisions, actions, secrets, lies, consequences, regrets, loss, heartbreak, and the power of love and forgiveness. It is a powerful and epic story that will resonate with the reader for a long time.
Rating: 5 Stars 
About The Author
Patrick Ryan is the author of the novel Buckeye. He is also 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, LitHub, Refinery 29, 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 editor of the literary magazine One Story and lives in New York City.
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