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Buckeye, Patrick Ryan, author; Michael Crouch, narrator
Buckeye is the name of the town in Ohio where the novel takes place. It is a place created out of whole cloth by the author, and it could be described as “anywhere” USA. The characters could also be described as “anyone” in any American town. They are all ordinary people dealing with ordinary lives, having ordinary problems and finding ordinary solutions. The book is about how these simple and typical citizens develop, grow, and make choices that determine the outcome of their lives and the lives of their loved ones. The author is insightful and the characters are authentic. In every closet of every character, there lives a ghost. In every family, there is a secret being kept. The characters have the virtues and the flaws of all human beings. Throughout the story, there are many recurring themes to discover.
Becky Jenkins is married to Cal Jenkins. He is the son of Everett Jenkins who served in World War I and returned home emotionally scarred. Becky is the daughter of Roman and Ida Hanover, owners of the local hardware store. When America is drawn into World War II, Cal wants to do his duty and enlist in the military, but he was born with one leg shorter than the other and was therefore unable to join up. Instead, he remains behind and works in his father-in-law’s hardware business. Becky, who is a gifted spiritualist, can sometimes contact those who have passed. Soon she is helping those who have suffered grievously, from the war’s violence, deal with their pain. She knows that she brings them solace if she can contact the ghosts of their loved ones.
Then, one day, in Bonhomie, Margaret Salt enters Cal’s hardware store and asks him if he has a radio. She thinks something must be happening because people are gathering in the street. Indeed, something did happen. The war has ended. Would her husband Felix return home? As the world moves on. Margaret gives birth to a son, Tom, nicknamed Buckeye. Becky has a son named Calvin Jr., nicknamed Skip. The families become friends. Tom and Cal Jr. become best friends.
As time continues to move on, Cal finds that he cannot come to terms fully with Becky’s visionary gift. He simply cannot embrace it fully enough to please Becky, and she asks him for a trial separation. He moves out. Meanwhile, Margaret runs from Bonhomie to Columbus, Ohio, and abandons Tom and Felix as her mother had once abandoned her. She declares that she wants a different life. The boys grow up dealing with their own troubles in their own unique way. Then the Vietnam War begins. Skip goes to war and tragedy follows. Tom’s lottery number does not come up. He stays home, but his father begins to feel guilty about secrets he has kept from Tom about himself and about Margaret. He is determined to reveal all. The shock of the revelations is challenging for Tom. How should he proceed. How is he expected to feel? His father's own personal issues do not concern him as much as the idea that he has never known his own true story.
This book beautifully deals with all the traumas that life can present to ordinary people. It deals with how they choose to face the problems and solve them. It deals with the pain and joys of family life from its beginning to its end. It covers the shame, guilt, infidelity, secrets, lies, gratitude, selfishness, joy, remorse, redemption and forgiveness that all flesh is heir to, as one faces everything in life in all of its glory. It covers all that life throws at them, including illness, physical and mental, as in PTSD, including loneliness, betrayal and sexual confusion, with delicacy and grace. None of the characters seemed to seek revenge or punishment, but rather they faced life quietly thoughtful as they sought solutions. Each character marched to the beat of its own drummer. This author writes in plain simple language that is easy to read and to follow. The reader’s voice never intruded upon the narrative, but rather enhanced it as he didn’t try to become a character in the book, but was simply the observer.