“Buckeye offers just about everything I look for in a great story: a vivid setting, historical sweep, rich characters who break your heart even as they make you laughand all of this in abundance.”—Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls and the North Bath trilogy
“Heartfelt and at times harrowing, Buckeye is both an absorbing portrait of an American past and a sympathetic exploration of what continues to sustain usand to plague us. There are no heroes or villains, only recognizably human creatures . . . each one flawed, noble, confused, passionate, lonely, loving, and, above all, real.”—Alice McDermott, author of Absolution
“I’ve been yearning for a novel that connects the American generations who dealt with our two wars—one of Omaha Beach, the other of the la Drang Valley. Buckeye is that book, and it soars.”—Tom Hanks
“Patrick Ryan conjures a vanished America with uncanny skill and writes with deep insight and lyrical intelligence about war and adultery, the mysteries of sexuality and family life, and the strange paths we have to travel to forgive—or at least begin to understand—the people who’ve hurt us the most. This is a novel to settle in with, a world unto itself.”—Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children
“A deeply compassionate book . . . Patrick Ryan tells a story we very much need right now: how forgiveness might creep up—despite everything—over time, tender and elusive and ever-complex. I was taken in by this book, utterly transported.”—Emily Fridlund, author of History of Wolves
“Patrick Ryan has created a world, and characters, that exist inside me now, and as a reader that is my deepest joy. Buckeye is wise and heartbreaking and full of individuals who struggle across decades—as we all do—to live as their whole selves. I could not recommend this book more highly.”—Ann Napolitano, author of Hello Beautiful
“Full of love and war and the perilous intimacies of smalltown life, Buckeye is funny and tender, realistic and strange. Patrick Ryan has long been one of my favorite writers. I have a feeling that with this book he’s going to be everyone’s favorite writer.”—Ann Patchett
“[A] heartfelt novel . . . [Ryan’s] vision of small-town life is as timeless as Sherwood Anderson’s or Thornton Wilder’s, and is enriched by his complex and morally conflicted characters. Filled with wit and emotion on every page, this is a stirring paean to the joys and sorrows of family.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“This quietly affecting and nuanced story . . . deftly blends in surprising twists and insights as it follows seemingly ordinary people living seemingly typical lives, resulting in a tale that comes across as absolutely authentic and deeply satisfying.”—Booklist, starred review
“An earnest and empathetic family drama . . . Ryan skillfully explores his characters’ emotional vulnerabilities [and] in subtly different ways . . . creates considerable sympathy for each of [them] while taking care not to tip the scale in favor of any one of them.”—Kirkus Reviews
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