Buckeye

A Read With Jenna Book Club Pick September 2025

One town. Two families. A secret that changes everything.

May, 1945. As news of the Allied victory in Europe reaches the small town of Bonhomie, Ohio, a woman named Margaret Salt walks into a hardware store and asks the man behind the counter, Cal Jenkins, for a radio. What happens next will change both of their lives forever.

While the country reconstructs in the post-war boom, a secret grows in Bonhomie – and nothing can remain hidden in a small town. The consequences of that long-ago encounter will intertwine the fates of two families, rippling through the next generation and compelling them to re-examine who they thought they were and what the future might hold.

Full of compassion, humour and charm, Buckeye is a dazzling portrait of the human spirit by way of one unforgettable community; the twisted roads we take to achieve forgiveness and redemption; and above all a universal longing for love and connection.

Author: Patrick Ryan

Paperback Published 2 September 2025 464 pages

Read and Recommended by Hendri:

"Buckeye is a page-turning, multigenerational novel that delves into deeply buried secrets between husbands and wives, as well as between parents and their children. Set in the fictional town of Bonhomie, Ohio, after World War II, the story intertwines the lives of two families in a sweeping and poignant narrative that spans decades, capturing the enduring impact of hidden desires, betrayals, and the choices that shape their legacies. The novel begins with Cal Jenkins, a dutiful man born with one leg shorter than the other. He is married to Becky, a spiritual medium who offers comfort to families grieving the loss of loved ones during the war. Everything changes when Cal meets Margaret Salt, and a stolen kiss sparks a secret love affair with far-reaching and long-lasting consequences. Margaret Salt's husband, Felix, is a closeted gay man serving abroad in the Pacific. While away, he forms a relationship with Thomas, and the two become lovers until they are irrevocably separated. The loss leaves Felix grappling with grief, secrecy, and identity, further complicating the tangled web of hidden desires and unspoken truths that bind the Salt and Jenkins families together. When Felix eventually returned home, he resumed his heterosexual life—until he discovered that his wife was pregnant with Cal's child. The revelation sets off a chain of emotional turmoil, upending both the Jenkins and Salt families and creating repercussions for their sons, who eventually become close friends when they grow up. The plot of Buckeye might at times feel melodramatic, but Patrick Ryan’s empathetic and elegant writing style grips readers from the first page to the last, making it hard to put down. This is certainly one of our favourite books of 2025." 

'Poignant, powerful' Independent

'Omniscient, sweeping, almost defiantly sentimental'New York Times