In a Nutshell: A character-driven, epic historical family saga focusing on four people whose lives become intricately connected. Decent character development, lyrical writing. Straightforward plot. Too much telling, too many secrets. I think this fits under the umbrella of \"The Great American Novel,\" which isn't usually my cup of tea. Consider this an outlier opinion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Plot Preview:Bonhomie, Ohio. 1920s onwards until the 1980s.Cal: Born with one leg shorter than the other...

Five stars! Seriously, this book was so unique and beautifully written, oh my god 😭 I'm so glad I squeezed in Bonhomie: A Novel by Patrick Ryan before the year ended. It absolutely lives up to the hype, folks!! To me, it felt like a blend of Kristin Hannah's style with Rebecca Makkai's The Great Believers. I can't explain it! This historical fiction spans two major wars, following characters who are EXTREMELY flawed but surprisingly easy to root for. I don't know how Patrick Ryan pulled that of...

Patrick Ryan's new novel, *Bonhomie: A Novel*, is a sweeping small-town saga, focusing on the drama of ordinary lives. Set in the quiet (fictitious) small town of Bonhomie, Ohio, *Bonhomie: A Novel* tells the story of the Jenkins and Salt families, whose lives become forever intertwined after an impulsive kiss, celebrating the Allied victory in Europe during World War II. It follows the two families from the postwar years, through Vietnam, and into the 1980s. Ryan sprinkles details throughout...

Life's fragile, complicated, and finite – we all know it. Life happens, and it isn't always what we hope for. Babies are abandoned, born with physical deformities, or arrive with unique gifts that not everyone believes in. Some are even born as someone they have to hide from the world. Patrick Ryan does an amazing job illustrating how these circumstances shape his characters into who they become in "Bonhomie: A Novel". But he also shows how fate isn't the only thing that determines our identity....

Small Town Fiction at Its Finest... In Bonhomie, Ohio, two couples, Cal and Becky Jenkins, and Felix and Margaret Salt, have entangled their lives, beginning with a chance meeting that led to an impulsive moment of passion... *Bonhomie: A Novel* begins with intense backstories of these four main characters starting several decades before WWII, and continues into the 1980s. * Cal can't enlist in the fight overseas. This rejection stings. * Becky is a seer connecting clients to lost loved one...

These are always the toughest books to put down—the ones everyone else is raving about with five-star reviews, and you're slogging through against your gut feeling, just hoping you'll finally 'get it'! I think I knew within the first few pages that "Bonhomie: A Novel" by Patrick Ryan just wasn't going to click for me, despite glowing recommendations from many authors I admire. It was all a little too precious and saccharine for my taste. I couldn't connect emotionally with anyone in the hundred...

2 1/2 stars -- "It was okay, plus"I can't quite put my finger on what it is that makes me fall for some literary fiction and not others, but this one just didn't click. A character-driven novel about families, marriages, love, struggles, and forgiveness – it *should* have been right up my street, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters, so their ups and downs left me cold. Maybe it's because nobody in "Bonhomie: A Novel" showed even a hint of humor? Or maybe it was t...

Patrick Ryan's *Bonhomie: A Novel* is an emotionally poignant and beautifully written book that follows two families across four decades in the fictional small town of Bonhomie, Ohio. Set against the backdrop of both World War II and the Vietnam War, *Bonhomie: A Novel* explores how secrets don’t stay private for long in a small town… and there’s a big one at the heart of this story. Ryan has created great characters that I will certainly continue to think about long after finishing the book. I ...

Patrick Ryan's "Bonhomie: A Novel" is a sprawling tale that unfolds from the Roaring Twenties to the groovy Seventies, all within the heartland town of Bonhomie, Ohio. It's a story of two couples whose lives become deeply intertwined. We're introduced to Cal, whose legs are, shall we say, "symmetrically misaligned." This unfortunate condition keeps him from enlisting in the war. Betsy, his wife, is a spiritual healer, conducting séances to connect her clients with the departed and offer them cl...

“The things that we love, tell us what we are.” *Bonhomie: A Novel* paints a beautiful portrait of small-town America. Spanning from the 1930s through the 1980s, this multilayered, poignant tale had me captivated. The book touches on so many things: identity, loss, family, friends, and love. Written with so much heart and tenderness, *Bonhomie: A Novel* is one of those remarkable stories that I will not be forgetting anytime soon. I loved each of the characters, and Patrick Ryan wrote their fl...