Buckeye

Buckeye (2025) is a best-selling novel by American author Patrick Ryan and was the September 2025 Today Show Read With Jenna Book Club pick. Known for his young adult titles, Buckeye marks Ryan’s first foray into literary fiction for adult readers. Set in the fictional town of Bonhomie, Ohio, Buckeye tells the story of two couples who share a devastating secret and explores how it reverberates through their sons’ lives. Through the lives of the Salt and Jenkins families, the novel explores themes including The Impact of War on Individual and Cultural Identity, Individualism Versus Conformity in Small Communities, and The Impact of Secrets on Marriage and Family.

This guide refers to the 2025 hardcover edition published by Random House.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death, illness, racism, antigay bias, emotional abuse, bullying, animal death, sexual violence and harassment, mental illness, addiction, substance use, sexual content, and cursing.

Plot Summary

Bonhomie, Ohio, is a small town that is home to several profitable industries. Its growth trajectory has matched that of the Midwest as a whole during the early years of the 20th century, and most of its townspeople describe it as a nice place to live.

Cal Jenkins, born in 1920, hopes to enlist in World War II, but he is turned away because he was born with one leg shorter than the other. He watches with disappointment as many of the other young men of his generation ship off for basic training and then to serve in either Europe or the Pacific. Cal’s father, Everett, is relieved, as he is still reeling from the trauma of World War I and has a more skeptical view of war than his son does.

However, Cal’s focus doesn’t remain on the war for long. After a whirlwind courtship, he marries Becky Hanover, a quirky young woman he knows from school. The two move into a small apartment together, and Becky’s father, Roman, gives Cal a job in his family’s hardware store.

The early days of their marriage are happy, but Cal is suspicious of Becky’s belief that she possesses the ability to communicate with the dead. He doubts her skills as a medium and resents the attention that her eccentricity brings to the family. Just as Cal is beginning to wonder what life might have been like if he hadn’t married the first woman he dated, he has a chance encounter that will prove to be life-changing: One day, while he is working at the hardware store, a beautiful woman comes in and asks him to turn on the radio. They find out that Hitler has just announced his surrender, and the woman, who introduces herself as Margaret, kisses Cal passionately and then runs from the store.

Margaret’s marriage is not as happy as she hoped it would be. Her husband, Felix Salt, is handsome and hardworking, but he and Margaret lack a physical connection, and sexuality and attraction are important to Margaret. Additionally, they had to move from Columbus to Bonhomie for Felix’s job, and Margaret finds the small-town atmosphere stifling.

Although Hitler has surrendered, the US is still fighting Japan, and when Felix ships out for the Pacific, Margaret cannot say that she is truly sad to see him go. She and Cal run into each other again and commence an affair. They meet secretly each week and are caught up in the attraction that is, for each of them, more intense than the one they feel for their spouse.

Becky continues to help her clients communicate with their deceased loved ones. Meanwhile, Margaret continues to read Felix’s few letters, noticing how distant he seems and how little of an emotional response the letters provoke in her.

Felix, aboard a navy vessel, has his own struggles. Unbeknownst to Margaret, Felix is gay. He has long hidden his attraction to men, although his parents have always suspected. Felix and another sailor, Augie, fall in love and begin a secret affair. Felix knows, however, that nothing can come of it and ultimately distances himself from Augie. When their ship is torpedoed, Augie is killed. Felix is wounded and sent home. When Margaret learns of Felix’s impending arrival, she cuts off her relationship with Cal.

Felix arrives home grief-stricken and traumatized. His relationship with Margaret further deteriorates, although he is happy when she becomes pregnant shortly after his arrival. Margaret figures out quickly that the child, named Tom, is Cal’s, but she says nothing.

Cal, too, has a son by this point, named Skip, and as the boys age, they become friends. At first, Margaret is the only one who knows that Tom and Skip are half-brothers, but the secret cannot remain buried forever. When Margaret learns of Felix’s affair with Augie, she tells Felix, Cal, and Becky the truth about Tom’s parentage. She then leaves her family to return to Columbus since she has not been able to adjust to life as a mother.

The secret proves too difficult for Becky to handle, and she and Cal separate. Neither is sure that their marriage will be able to survive the betrayal. After Margaret leaves, Felix decides not to tell Tom the truth. He consults with Cal, and Cal agrees to keep the secret.

The boys grow into adolescence as another war looms on the horizon: The US has been involved in Vietnam’s civil conflict for years, and American troops are beginning to be sent. Tom and Skip are both in their early twenties by the time of the first draft. Tom is in college in Toledo, studying communication, and Skip is drifting from job to job.

To Cal and Becky’s surprise and horror, Skip enlists and is sent to Vietnam. He dies there, during the Tet Offensive, and his parents are devastated. In the wake of his death, Becky and Cal reconcile.

The years pass, and the Vietnam War rages on. When Tom narrowly escapes the draft, Felix decides that it is time to tell him the truth. Tom doesn’t take the news well and stops speaking to Felix. He goes to see Margaret in Columbus but cannot bring himself to approach her.

Life continues for Cal, Becky, and Felix until Felix is diagnosed with late-stage emphysema. Tom returns home to care for Felix, and the two are finally able to come to terms with the past. Tom realizes that Felix acted much as he would have in his situation, and he understands that life must have been difficult for his father since he was forced into the closet by societal convention. During Felix’s final days, Tom writes to Margaret, asking her to return to Bonhomie. Margaret arrives too late to see Felix but is able to apologize to Tom. Tom hugs her, but it is evident that their relationship is over.

Tom, now with a long-term girlfriend, Kathy, builds and maintains a relationship with Becky and Cal. The three forge a bond that is comforting to all of them, and Becky and Cal are thrilled when Tom and Kathy announce their intention to adopt a child. As the novel ends, Becky and Cal finally take the honeymoon that they had to postpone long ago because of the war, and each reflects on the complexity of marriage and life.