Buckeye

One of those rare books where the plot is little more than a series of loosely connected events in four characters' lives, and yet I was compelled to keep reading. It's odd because I can't necessarily say I cared about any of the characters, in that they are all so complicated and selfish and flawed, but I was fascinated by all of them and I needed to find out what happened to them.

The writing, too, is that wonderful kind of literary style that is accessible rather than off-putting, beautiful without being distracting. It was often understated so that you know exactly how the character is feeling without it needing to be spelled out for you.

Buckeye was a long novel but I never felt that it dragged. It's not my typical sort of story, as I don't generally love historical fiction, but it's refreshing to read such a truthful and nuanced picture of relationships and the ways they change and grow over time.

Set in Bonhomie, Ohio, this book follows the fates and fortunes of two couples in a time period which encompassed two major conflicts.

What a fabulous book. There is so much to like about it that it’s difficult to know where to begin.
The character development is superb and the reader has plenty of time to become acquainted with the main players in this drama of everyday life as it plays out over a number of decades. It helps significantly that all six of the main characters have endearing traits as well as struggles to contend with which draw the reader in. I, for one, certainly hoped desperately that everything turned out well for them.
The writing style is unusual as the author sometimes writes whole sections in short pithy sentences which, for some reason, are very powerful and convey the emotions and actions very differently from the more traditional styles of writing.
And emotions are one of the things that this author is particularly good at depicting. The storyline introduces a number of situations which engender a variety of sentiments and I felt as though I lived through every single one with the character who was experiencing it. Even when the character bottles up their feelings and strictly contains them as a survival mechanism, the author still manages to immerse the reader in the moment.
What I liked most about the book is that there are highs and there are lows. There is no saccharine sweet happy ending, nor is it all doom and gloom. It is life, real life, transferred powerfully onto the written page.
This book tackles a number of difficult issues, each handled with sensitivity and perception but the main thing I took away from it is that time is not something we should take for granted.

If you don’t read this book you will have missed a rare treat.

Read this with my book group, the Melksham Library Book Club. The novel is intricately plotted and the characters are so well drawn, it made the story very real. All of the characters had been deeply affected by their varied childhood experiences, those experiences which shaped the arc of their intersecting lives. Their lives were also marked by the devastating effects of war. All in all, a richly textured novel which I found totally absorbing.

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan is a thoughtful and emotional novel set in a small town in Ohio. The story follows two families whose lives become connected after World War II, showing how one moment can shape relationships for years to come. Ryan focuses on ordinary people dealing with love, regret, and forgiveness, which makes the characters feel realistic and relatable. The writing is calm and detailed, allowing readers to understand the characters’ inner thoughts and struggles. Overall, Buckeye is a moving story about family, choices, and how the past continues to affect the present.