Reviews for Buckeye : a novel
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
This quietly affecting and nuanced story, about small town life in twentieth-century U.S., centers around two married couples. There’s Cal, born in 1920, with one leg two inches shorter than the other, the only surviving son of an embittered WWI veteran suffering from PTSD. Cal grows up and marries the first woman he ever kisses, Becky, a slightly eccentric, only daughter who has often-doubted-but-authentic psychic gifts. Then there’s Margaret, a strikingly beautiful, self-possessed orphan who was abandoned as an infant, married to her equally attractive husband, Felix. They all live in Bonhomie, Ohio, a typical Midwestern town that looks to Columbus as the epitome of big city sophistication. Courtships, weddings, children (boys perfectly nicknamed Skip and Buckeye), joys and tragedies, betrayals and secrets, all evolve through WWII, McCarthyism, the Korean and Vietnam wars. The main characters are fully developed, minor characters memorably come to life, and the historical and social contexts, whether the subject is clothing and hairstyles or word choices and political opinions, ring true. The narrative deftly blends in surprising twists and insights as it follows seemingly ordinary people living seemingly typical lives, resulting in a tale that comes across as absolutely authentic and deeply satisfying.
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Two couples confront the consequences of infidelity in small-town, post–World War II Ohio. Over a span of more than 30 years, the small fictional town of Bonhomie provides the setting for this quiet story about the lives of two families irrevocably changed by a brief affair. Cal Jenkins, precluded from military service by a congenital orthopedic condition, marries hometown girl Becky Hanover and takes a job managing her father’s hardware store. Becky discovers that she possesses the power to communicate with the afterlife and conducts free seances in the couple’s home. Their otherwise unremarkable lives are forever upended after a brief encounter between Cal and Margaret Salt in the store on VE Day leads to a romantic entanglement. Margaret and her husband, Felix, arrived in Bonhomie in 1939, when his employer brought him there to help manage its aluminum plant, but as the war in Europe reaches its end they’ve been separated for more than two years by Felix’s decision to enlist in the Navy and his assignment to a cargo ship in the Pacific. Ryan skillfully explores his characters’ emotional vulnerabilities, among them Calvin’s insecurity about his physical impairment and his disappointment over his inability to serve his country; Becky’s ambivalence about her spiritual gift; Margaret’s psychological scars from having been abandoned by her mother mere days after her birth and a childhood spent shuttling between an orphanage and foster homes; and Felix’s issues with his sexual identity. The fallout from Calvin and Margaret’s brief affair reverberates through the lives of these families in a booming postwar America as each goes on to raise a son who must face the prospect of serving in the Vietnam War. In subtly different ways, Ryan creates considerable sympathy for each of his characters while taking care not to tip the scale in favor of any one of them. The novel’s only flaw is a deliberate pace that may leave many readers wishing it had proceeded more swiftly to its undeniably moving final scenes. An earnest and empathetic family drama. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Publishers Weekly
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In this heartfelt novel from Ryan (The Dream Life of Astronauts), a V-E Day kiss between two strangers reverberates across decades. In a small town in Ohio, Cal Jenkins is unable to serve in WWII because one of his legs is two inches shorter than the other. He enters a mismatched marriage with a medium named Becky Hanover, clerks in his father-in-law’s hardware store, and fathers a child, Skip. A parallel narrative follows Margaret Anderson, who’s raised in a series of foster homes before she meets and marries Felix Salt, an aluminum factory executive who volunteers for the Navy and serves on a cargo ship in the Pacific. Margaret is in Cal’s shop when they both hear the news over the radio of Germany’s surrender, prompting them to share an impulsive kiss, after which they embark on an affair. Felix returns home, and he and Margaret have a son named Tom, who becomes friends with Skip. The secrets of these enmeshed families come out years later, as Tom protests the Vietnam War and Skip enlists in the Army. The author’s vision of small-town life is as timeless as Sherwood Anderson’s or Thornton Wilder’s, and is enriched by his complex and morally conflicted characters. Filled with wit and emotion on every page, this is a stirring paean to the joys and sorrows of family. Agent: Nicole Aragi, Aragi, Inc. (Sept.)
Library Journal
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Ryan's (The Dream Life of Astronauts: Stories) sweeping literary historical novel examines the intertwined lives of two families in the small town of Bonhomie, OH. The first family is that of Cal Jenkins, who was born in 1920 with one leg shorter than the other, lost his mother at a young age, and was neglected by his father. Life later surprises him with marriage to a pretty woman, a job in her father's hardware store, and soon, an infant son. Cal's only discomfort comes from his wife's dabbling in spiritualism and communicating with the dead. The second family is that of Margaret Salt, who grew up in orphanages and foster homes. Her luck changes when she marries good-looking and successful Felix, though she tries to ignore their lack of sexual spark. When the U.S. enters World War II, Cal's disability keeps him at home in Bonhomie, while Felix enlists in the armed forces and gradually comes to terms with his sexuality. Felix's long absence and a rift in the Jenkins marriage throw Margaret and Cal together for a brief affair, which results in her being pregnant and full of conflict as Felix returns home. VERDICT An old-fashioned novel in the best sense: it's expansive, generously paced, and full of sympathetic, well-rounded characters experiencing the joys and sorrows of everyday life.—Barbara Love
