While I was reading this book, I kept thinking about the connection between reading fiction and empathy. Buckeye is an addictive slow burn as it spans the lives of two families in Bonhomie, Ohio between WW2 and the end of the Vietnam War. I didn’t want it to end. There’s a secret, which drives the plot, but really the reader gets to witness the highs and lows in the lives of these fascinating characters and the personal growth which accompanies all of that over the passage of time. There is love, loss, grief, forgiveness, laughter, second chances, and hope. It is a reminder of the history itself during those decades and how we must not fail to learn from it. Absolutely loved.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC - one of my favorites this year!

I can't find words... the emotional rollercoaster this took me on. Right from the start I was hooked. One of the best I have read this year and when I say I just love historical and literary fiction, this is the type of book is what I mean. It had me in a chokehold and once I started, I couldn't stop reading.

I have never read anything from this author before but I will absolutely look for future books. The pacing, the atmosphere and the characters were so, so well done. There are 2 separate stories at the start and the way they come together was managed so well. I cried more times than I have in a long time from a book. Just such a beautiful read with so many topics handled with the utmost care.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for a review! I also paired this with an audio copy from the library after reading a large portion and will say I loved our audio narrator. Cannot recommend this book enough.

This was a sweeping saga of broken people in small-town America, and I really enjoyed the character-driven, multi-generational story. Themes of loss, healing and redemption with so much heart and wisdom. Fans of Broken Country and The Dutch House will enjoy this one.

A chance encounter after the Allied victory in Europe has a ripple effect on two families that lasts generations. Cal's wife can talk to the dead. Margaret thinks her husband is safe until a telegram says he might not be. Later, things begin to come up that may shake the foundations of each family. The question is how will it all shake out and can they survive?

A small-town story of two families in Bonhomie, Ohio, who are forever linked and altered by a war-time secret relationship. Simultaneously intimate and sweeping, the novel covers five decades of seeking love, striving for connection, belonging, and redemption.

This was overhyped, but I did enjoy the chronological timeline and multiple POVs. The eras in time were cool. However, I wasn't fully engaged with this and I just wish these people just TALKED to each other. While many people will like this, it just wasn't my favorite.

Overall this was a solid four star read! The only thing that kept it from being a five star read was that the pacing of the book felt a bit off. I loved the characters and the story though!

"𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨."

With blurbs from Ann Patchett and Ann Napolitano and after being picked by Read With Jenna and Barnes and Noble as their September book club read, I was worried 𝗕𝗨𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗬𝗘 wouldn't live up to my expectations. I was wrong.

Set in small-town Ohio, Patrick Ryan's story of two families and the secret that links them is both epic and intimate at the same time. It follows multiple generations over forty years, through wars and upheavals in the larger world and their smaller ones. With subtle prose and vivid characters, it's emotional and immersive and everything you could want in a family drama. And if you listen to audiobooks, Michael Crouch's narration beautifully brings this novel to life.

Thanks to Random House and PRH Audio for the copies to review.

I ADORED THIS BOOK. This is a big, classic, old fashioned novel about two families in small town Ohio, chronicling their ups and downs, secrets and betrayals, loves and losses over the decades between WWII and the Vietnam War. The story unfolds slowly but carefully, and every detail and encounter and conversation is purposeful, important, and necessary. I fell in love with every single character and wept several times just at their yearnings and unspoken needs and loves, both realized and not. I would recommend this book to anyone and will revisit it often.

This book was depressing and sad .It chronicled the lives of two families over sixty years or more . From World War 2 to the Vietnam name war and beyond . These times were filled with unrest , advancements in technology, science , health, critical thinking and the importance of family in good times and bad. Life was just as complicated then as it is now. Complex characters were portrayed and some were more likeable than others but all seemed to be flawed . Topics such as war , PTSD, extramarital affairs, bullying , abandonment, alternative lifestyles, paranormal all are part of this book.

Two families, multiple secrets including one big one that threatens to take them all down. The writing here was poignant and spoke deeply about humans and how we love and interact. However, the pacing lagged for me and I couldn’t understand one of the characters motivations.

A sweeping character study traversing multiple generations of a interconnected families against the backdrop of multiple wars. It's such an interesting intersection of communities and people and this book really managed to bring a lot of ideas together beautifully. Highly recommend especially for fans of Ann Patchett or Ann Napolitano.

4.5 ⭐
Patrick Ryan has written an exceptional novel with engaging storytelling. Buckeye is literary fiction at its finest. It is a multigenerational novel with nuanced characters and encompasses WWII through the Vietnam War.

Synopsis:
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.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced digital copy of the book.

This book felt long in a good way - you got to know the characters really well and stay with them for many years. It was a pretty ordinary story of two families in the 20th century and their joys and miseries and it was simple and heartbreaking.

In a small town in Ohio, a secret binds Carl Jenkins and Margaret Salt that impacts two generations of families. But nothing in a small town is able to stay a secret for long.

This is a beautifully written family saga that is impacted by World War Two and the Vietnam war. This character driven story has nuanced and complex characters that struggle with deep themes such as identity, guilt, shame, grief and forgiveness. The atmospheric time periods with the diverse social and political climates provides a great backdrop and enhance the story lines. I also loved the connection to Ohio and be able to glimpse what my grandparents and parents lives might have been back then. I highly recommend this book for those that enjoy slower character driven literary stories that are in the mood for a slightly heavier read.

I liked but didn't love, while this was an emotional story I feel like it was still a bit surface level and it could've been even MORE emotional, maybe if there had been a 1st person narrator? I liked it but it was LONG. Overall a good story but it wasn't 5 stars for me.

This story follows two families for decades through the 20th century. I loved it. One of my favorite books all year.

4.5⭐️ This started a little slow but turned out to be the kind of book that makes me love reading. Characters you follow through their years that etch their ways into your heart and head. This was mid to late 20th century historical fiction at its best. If you like William Kent Krueger’s stand alone books, you’ll love this one too.

Oh do I love a sweeping family/marriage/friendship saga, and this one delivered. I fell in love with all of the characters, tender and flawed as they were, and enjoyed the historical details of the times as we moved through them. Even more exciting, this is a debut! How promising! I can't wait to read what Patrick Ryan comes up with next.

I don't normally cry after reading a book, but I definitely teared up at the end- absolutely going to be in my top 5 for 2025! I love a sweeping family story and this was like sitting down with a family album & looking for held secrets. What I loved most is how Ryan doesn’t focus on big, flashy events but on the quiet moments that shape people: shame carried in silence, love that doesn’t fit neatly into expectations, and the way a single decision that can echo for decades. The small-town setting feels so vivid, you can almost hear the screen doors slam. This isn’t just a story about mid-century America—it’s about how the past lingers in our hearts and what it means to find forgiveness for ourselves and others.