Buckeye - by Patrick Ryan (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

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, New York Post, Chicago Public Library

LONGLISTED FOR THE JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE

That, as he saw it now, was his life's work: trying to make right what he'd gotten wrong. Wasn't that a fair measure of a person, what they did with their mistakes?

In the jubilant aftermath of the Allied victory in Europe, Cal Jenkins, a man wounded not in war but by his inability to serve in it, shares a single, life-altering moment with Margaret Salt, a woman determined to outrun her past. Cal is married to Becky, whose spiritual gifts help the living speak to the dead, while Margaret's husband, Felix, is serving at sea, believed to be safe--until a telegram suggests otherwise.

What begins as a fleeting transgression becomes a complex secret that irrevocably binds all four of them in unexpected ways. As their small Ohio town remakes itself in the postwar boom, the Salt and Jenkins families remain in each other's orbit, and the consequences of choices made long ago begin to emerge, reshaping their lives in ways that will forever impact the next generation.

Sweeping yet intimate, resplendent with moments of deep emotion and unforgettable characters, Buckeye is a transportive story of love, loyalty, sacrifice, and forgiveness.

Review Quotes

"[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 is epic, and it is heartfelt. . . . [It] will surely come to be regarded as one of the best novels of the year."--The Anniston Star

"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.