Review: There’s a lot of love in Ohio-set novel ‘Buckeye’

I loved “Buckeye,” by Patrick Ryan. In fact, if I were talking to you about this book instead of writing about it, I would add a few more “loveds,” accompanied by gestures emphasizing how much.

Saying I loved it is the easy part, of course. Telling you why I loved it won’t be difficult, either. The hard part might be shutting up about it.

“Buckeye,” which is dedicated to novelist Ann Patchett and her husband Karl VanDevender, opens with Cal Jenkins. He is minding his father-in-law’s hardware store in Bonhomie, Ohio, a town that “wasn’t nearly so small that everyone knew everyone else, but it was small enough that, sooner or later, most everyone felt as if they’d laid eyes on most everyone else.” Then a woman, a stranger, walks in asking if he has a radio.

“Why isn’t it on?” she asks. She “looked agitated, impatient,” Cal thinks, and finds out why as the Zenith wheezes to life: Germany has surrendered to Allied forces. World War II is ending.

“Do you think people will start coming home?” she asks.

“From Europe? I hope so,” Cal says. “But Hirohito’s still giving us a run. They might send those guys over to the Pacific.”

Instead of replying, the woman, Margaret Salt (“like the shaker”) kisses him.

“Involving” and “unbelievably well-written” are the best ways to describe “Buckeye.” There is nary a false note as Ryan carries out the interplay between his characters’ lives and the historical stage. Big forces are at work, but he keeps his eye focused on Cal and Margaret and their respective spouses and children as they grapple with life — and all-consuming secrets — during and after WWII and leading into the Vietnam War years.

I felt less like a reader and more like an observer, an embedded one who hoped for the best but feared the worst for the denizens of Bonhomie. Someone wasn’t going to come out of this unscathed; most likely it was going to be me as I rode an emotional roller coaster that had me changing allegiances as characters revealed more of themselves. The telling of the story alternates among characters, the change in perspectives fluid, the different voices adding to the plot in ways I didn’t realize I needed until the moments arrived.

I didn’t want to leave the pages of “Buckeye” and neither will you. It’s the kind of book that reads like the culmination of a writer’s career — a magnum opus of depth and care. It’s hard to believe Ryan has anything left for future endeavors after funneling so much into “Buckeye.” Hopefully, he does. Just imagine what’s on the horizon.

Maren Longbella is a multi-platform editor at the Star Tribune.

Buckeye