Buckeye, Patrick Ryan. Random House (ISBN: 9780593595039) 2025.
Summary: Two couples in a small, post-war Ohio town have secrets between them that will shake their lives and the son who connects them.
Why was everyone in small town Bonhomie, Ohio celebrating? That’s what Margaret Salt wanted to know when she went into the hardware store where Cal Jenkins worked as a clerk. They go down to the basement and turn on the radio to learn the Allies had defeated Germany in World War II. Spontaneously, she kisses Cal–passionately, on the lips–igniting a passion that would change forever two families.
Margaret, a woman of striking looks and red hair, had been raised in an orphanage in eastern Ohio, abandoned by her mother. When she comes of age, she moves to Columbus, where her sexuality is awakened. She meets Felix, a dashing executive for a manufacturing company. They marry after a short courtship but he seems to have little sexual drive, though he treats her wonderfully. He is promoted and assigned to a plant in Bonhomie, a fictional town located near Findlay, Ohio
Meanwhile, Cal Jenkins grew up in Bonhomie, raised by Everett, a father with PTSD from World War I (though no one called it that). One of his legs was shorter than the other. Yet he learned to work hard, and in the course of things, met Becky, whose father owned the hardware store and several other small businesses in the area. Becky had a special gift of being able to connect with spirits of the departed. They married and Cal went to work for her father. Soon, a son, Cal, Jr. but Skip to everyone came along.
Then something else came along. World War II. Eventually, Felix enlisted in the Navy, assigned to a ship in the Pacific. Cal was turned down for service because of his leg. Becky developed a practice, especially for those who’d lost sons or husbands. She came to the attention of a promoter by the name of LaGrange. who would have used her gift for a money-making scheme (she never charged for sittings). Instead of letting her handle it, Cal threatens the man and drives him off, creating a rift in the marriage. It is while this was going on that Margaret encountered Cal. Soon they struck up an affair. Meanwhile, Felix has an affair of his own, with another man, Augie, who dies when their ship is sunk. Felix survives and after recovering from injuries receives his discharge.
When Felix’s ship was sunk, his fate was unclear for a time, and Margaret cut off contact with Cal. Until the night before Felix was due home. They got together one last time–without their usual precautions. Then, the next night, Felix wanted to be with her. You guessed it. Shortly after, Margaret was pregnant. They raised Tom as if Felix was his father. He had Margaret’s red hair. But there were other signs that he was Cal’s son. Those in the know kept the secret.
And it seemed to work for a time. Cal and Becky got back together, aided by timely counsel to Cal from Becky’s father. Felix and Margaret gave themselves to raising Tom, even though Felix struggled with his own PTSD and kept the secret of Augie. Felix’s career nosedives as Cal takes over the management of the hardware store, expanding it. Becky continues to offer sittings. And in an awkward turn, Skip and Tom become friends, with Tom nicknamed “Buckeye.”
But secrets have a way of coming out. Much of this story centers on the unraveling of secrets, and what they meant for everyone involved. Each person made different decisions, to lean into or turn away from relationships.
Parentage is a big theme of this story. Margaret struggled with abandonment. Cal coped with a difficult father. Felix wrestled with being a good father to Tom. Cal lived wondering about whether he had a second son. And for so many of Becky’s clients, the fate of a lost child or relative was their great concern. Patrick Ryan reminds us of the ways parentage inescapably weaves through our lives.
Ryan also is pitch-perfect in capturing post World War II America. The boom of growth. The hiddenness of gay life. The brewing tensions of race…and a far off conflict in Asia. Likewise, Ryan captures the ethos of Ohio during this time. While not an Ohio native, he did graduate work in Bowling Green, Ohio, not far from the location of his fictional town. His place names and descriptions in Toledo, Columbus, and small town Ohio are spot on, even though Bonhomie is a fictional place.
As much as I enjoyed all this, I most appreciated the intergenerational story Ryan wove. Against the Ohio canvas, he invites us to remember our own loves, families, and secrets. While these shape us, he also reminds us of the choices each of us may make–to love, to be vulnerable, to accept, to forgive–or not.