Recommend books Buckeye: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel

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Buckeye: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel

★★★★

8.4

Patrick Ryan・・Ended

Updated: September 2, 2025

Content length: 464 pages

language: English

Source: amazon

8.4

Score

5★

8%

4★

25%

3★

33%

2★

8%

1★

25%

Synopsis

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.

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📚 Why We Recommend It

Patrick Ryan’s Buckeye is a sweeping yet intimate novel that traces the intertwined lives of two families in the small town of Bonhomie, Ohio, from the end of World War II through the Vietnam War era. The story begins with a fleeting kiss between Cal Jenkins and Margaret Salt on VE Day in 1945, setting off a chain of events that will affect their families for decades. Ryan masterfully explores themes of love, loss, identity, and the enduring impact of secrets, all set against the backdrop of mid-20th-century America. The novel has been lauded for its rich character development and emotional depth, drawing comparisons to the works of John Irving and Ann Patchett.

Jenna Bush Hager selected Buckeye as the September pick for her "Read With Jenna" book club, describing it as her "favorite book" of the last five years and a "once-in-a-decade novel." She praised the book for its emotional resonance and compelling characters, noting that it left her in tears and compelled her to read it twice.

For readers who appreciate richly layered family sagas and historical fiction that delves into the complexities of human relationships, Buckeye offers a poignant and unforgettable reading experience.