Book Review: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

Pages: 320

Genre: Adult Fiction

Pub. Date: March 4, 2025

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Source: Personal Copy

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

 

Goodreads says, "Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love."

 

 

Beth Johnson lives in a small farming community in England in the 1960s. She had high hopes for herself at one time, but now she exists happily on her family's farm. Her husband, Frank, is a good man who loves her deeply and they have known each other since they were kids. They share a son, Bobby, who is the apple of their eye. However, as the years go by, they lose Bobby to a tragic accident, and Beth has never really recovered. Fast forward a few years and Gabriel, Beth's teenage love, shows up back in town with his son, Leo, in tow. Leo instantly reminds Beth of Bobby and it is heartbreaking. As time passes, she can't keep away from Gabriel and even finds herself taking a job working for Gabriel. The story is interspersed with a 1969 murder trial, leaving readers wondering whose murder it is, as well as flashbacks to Gabriel and Beth's courtship, as well as her life with Bobby. Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall is a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that will tug on readers' heartstrings.
 
While I didn't always agree with Beth's motives, I was deeply invested in her story. The flashbacks to her relationship with Gabriel were so well done. Their chemistry and shared love leaped off the page. Her love for her son did too, which made his tragic fate extra heartbreaking. So, when Gabriel reenters Beth's life, it's not hard to see how despite her best efforts, she would be gravitating towards him and what they used to have. Also, flashbacks fleshed out what went wrong with Beth and Gabriel's relationship initially, how Beth ended up giving up her dream to become a poet at Oxford, and how she ended up with Frank.

My favorite aspects of Broken Country were Hall's descriptions of the farming community. I loved this tight-knit town and Beth's family. I enjoyed the descriptions of the farm, its animals, and its customs. She truly brought that aspect of the story to life. Additionally, I enjoyed the chapters focusing on the murder trial, which also kept me flipping the pages. I just had to know whose murder it was and what went tragically wrong. Slowly, Hall fills readers in and there are some definite twists in Broken Country.

While I don't typically like love triangles in my novels, this one was done well. It was so heartbreaking and moving, so much so, Broken Country will end up being one of my favorite novels of the year.  Have you read Broken Country? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.