I received a free ARC ebook of <i>Broken Country</i> from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Wow! This is a "get-up in the middle of the night to read" book. Hall's nonlinear plot structure, going back and forth in time, is stunning. Many authors attempt this but frequently leave their readers confused. In this novel, Hall drops hints of the pain and joy her characters will experience, but readers will never be confused.

Beth experiences true love twice in her life. But true love doesn't mean a pain-free life. She also experiences the devastating loss of her son, Bobby. Everything changes.

Beth's loves are Gabriel and Frank. Gabriel and Beth are young lovers, and their socio-economic statuses are totally different. Their break-up is not a surprise. Frank, the kind and steady local farmer, is Beth's second love. When Gabriel returns years later, conflicts are inevitable.

Hall's characters are nuanced, and all of them are fully realized. This is a great book.

Beautiful story about a country love triangle. Will true love prevail? The loss and recovery in this books was beautiful. I enjoyed it, finished in 48 hours. Thank you for ARC

What I liked most about "Broken Country" is the way the author keeps up the suspense. The reader learns fairly early on that there is a criminal trial, and it is not too hard to guess that someone has been killed. The potential victim and killer are Frank Johnson (Beth's husband) Gabriel Wolfe (Beth's first love and the man she will later have an affair with), and Jimmy Johnson (Frank's volatile alcoholic younger brother who loves Beth like a sister). However, the identity of the victim and the accused are kept hidden for much of the story, while the reader learns about Beth and Gabriel's past, Beth and Frank's married life and the operating of their farm with Jimmy's assistance, the tragedy that they experienced and which has irrevocably altered their lives, the return of Gabriel with his son Leo, the circumstances which bring Beth, Leo and Gabriel together, the commencement of the affair and its discovery. Even after the identity of the deceased and accused are revealed, there are still significant secrets to be uncovered. "Broken Country" is a story about the power of love, regret and guilt, and the sacrifices one is willing to make as a result.

I read this book in one day and while it held my attention and curiosity, I thought the main characters were a little unlikable.

I absolutely loved this book and couldn’t put it down. The story was so intriguing and the characters were well written. It was beautiful.

Thank you NetGalley for the excellent ARC for Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall. I love this book. It is about a love triangle (don’t let that scare you away) but the story has such depth. It makes you think about grief, revenge, regret, family and living your life the best way you can and yes, love. This book is beautifully written and certainly an ode to love of farming and the land surrounding it. I would recommend this book to everyone. I can’t wait to see what this author writes next.

I thought this book was really well written in the way that it would feel if a close friend was telling it to me. I normally hate love triangles and anything resembling them, but this one felt very different. Maybe it was the added element of grief, but it definitely felt more layered. I was at the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen between Beth, Frank, and Gabriel! The Trial chapters in between the story give you just a bit at a time but the drama is nail biting in an English-countryside-slow-burn way. It did not disappoint, and I was pleased with the ending. Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this wonderful ARC!

This book was so unbelievably good and I loved it so much!! Broken Country is a story based on a love triangle, young love, new beginnings, loss and grief, big secrets and big choices.

Place your pre-orders now on this one, it's expected to publish in March 2025. I promise you this is one you won't want to miss out on! Thank you Net Galley & Simon & Schuster for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book.

#BrokenCountry #ClareLeslieHall #SimonBooks

I find as I read more nonfiction that the fiction I read can come across as contrived, so I hesitated to read Hall's U.S. debut (she has previous titles in the U.K.), especially since it doesn't fall into genres I typically read. I was so pleasantly surprised by this book and I think most attempts to fit it neatly into one genre will probably be reductive. It's been a long time since I debated whether to race ahead through a novel or to savor it, but that was the constant push-pull in reading this one.

Literary devices that often fall short for me sang in this book. Chapters alternate between 'Before,' typically the late 1950s to early 1960s, and later years, typically the late 1960s, with an occasional glimpse into a court case being held after both periods. The short, alternating time periods serve to create a taut narrative that explores Beth's relationship with two men, her son's short life, and a murder trial (it is not immediately clear who the perpetrator and victim are). Still, this is not a romance book or a typical thriller.

The novel is set in rural England and populated by a small number of intriguing characters with relationships that become increasingly complex and surprising. I thought I knew where the novel was taking me, and I didn't mind, but in the end I was surprised by several emotional twists and turns. There are sweet moments and heady ones, but it is the tragedies within that truly anchor the story. There were occasional bits of dialogue when it was unclear who was addressing whom (possibly these will be resolved in final print versions,) and times when it seemed the characters weren't addressing things in conversation that I expected them to, but these were very minor drawbacks in a stunning novel. This is easily the best fiction book I have read in a few years, and I hope to read more of Hall's work in the future.

Broken Country is not a book I requested from NetGalley but rather one suggested for me by the publisher. It is not the usual type of book I read (my favored books are legal and medical thrillers, murders and spy novels, etc.) I would classify this novel as a love story and I must confess that I enjoyed it immensely! I felt the author’s descriptions of the characters was outstanding— I actually felt as if I knew all of these people. The alternating chapters of the present and the past strengthens our knowledge of the characters and did not prepare the reader for the astounding and fascinating conclusion. I can wholeheartedly recommend this novel to all readers and thank NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

Absolutely loved Broken Country! The story telling is so beautifully written and has a plot that will keep the reader turning page after page. I loved Beth’s character and how she is developed throughout. Highly recommend!

Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange of an honest review!

Due out March 2025
TW: death of a child, dog killed

BEFORE
Beth Kennedy is a vibrant and inquisitive teen, daughter of happily married teachers, with aspirations of attending university at Oxford to become a poet. Her sister Eleanor, after graduating, works for a law firm in London and Beth can't wait to join her and live her own dreams.

Gabriel is an only child from a wealthy family and has grown up away at boarding school, with a distant father and a mother with a sharp tongue worsened by her drinking habit. He's home for the summer before university when he and Beth meet at a private lake and fall easily in love.

1968
Beth is now a farmer's wife, still living in her hometown, having married her former classmate, Frank, and moved into his family home. Frank and his younger brother Jimmy are very close, having lost their mother to a farming accident when they were young. Beth and Frank's son also died in a tragic accident at the farm, at age 9.

After more than a decade of not seeing each other, and on a completely average day, Gabriel and his son Leo, back home after the dissolution of his marriage, cross paths with Beth's family, with another death being the ultimate result.
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I felt disappointed with some of Beth's choices until later in the book, when we learn more about the challenges she faced in the 'before'. Then we get a closer look at Beth's grief over the loss of her son, and how she's never been able to heal. And it becomes more clear how she reached this point in her life, and that so much of her path was out of her hands.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Time to hit the preorder button.. One of the best books I have ever read. A million stars. Thank you NetGalley.

Some stories make my heart swell and my emotions flow like water. BROKEN COUNTRY is one such unforgettable story.

In a small English farm village lives a happily married woman who mourns the tragic death of her son. When her first love moves back to town it sets into motion a series of events that will alter the course of their lives.

Debut author Clare Leslie Hall paints a vivid picture of a tumultuous love triangle amidst a simple, pastoral life. A steady sense of foreboding looms heavy within these pages and doesn’t let up. Themes of sacrifice, the power of a first love, and deep loyalty make this story one worth reading. It’s a gut punch, but it's a beautiful one.

Be on the lookout for this to be a buzzy book next spring!

READ THIS IF YOU:
-appreciate masterful, timeless storytelling in a classic setting
-books with themes like GO AS A RIVER and THESE SILENT WOODS
-enjoy a book that explores love in many of its forms

RATING: 5/5
PUB DATE: March 25, 2025

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me engaged and it only took a few days to read. I think this is going to be a good book club option for several clubs. I plan recommending to my book friends and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Wow! I just finished reading "Broken Country" by Clare Leslie Hall, and I have to say it's one of my favorite books I've read this year! The writing is so incredible and the emotions it evokes are just so powerful and plentiful. Even though I finished the novel a little while ago, the characters are still living rent-free in my mind! If you're someone who only reads a couple of books a year, "Broken Country" absolutely needs to be at the top of your list. This 5+++ star novel is the perfect book club selection – I promise you will be able to discuss the storyline and characters for hours! I am in awe of Clare Leslie Hall's brilliance, and I truly look forward to reading more from her in the future!

This was very good book. Lots of twists and turns. A nice love story and true heartache. I enjoyed it and think you will too.

This book started slowly but by the last 80 pages, I couldn’t put it down. I liked the twists and turns of the back and forth viewpoints between “before” and “after”. There were a few twists that I didn’t see coming, and I was pleasantly surprised to be caught off guard by them. The writing was fantastic and the characters were all likable and relatable. I would absolutely recommend this book.

Broken Country, by Clare Leslie Hall, was a simple love story that becomes complex as life gets in the way and continues to move forward. Beth lives her life as best as she can, but twists and turns get in the way and complicate things. Family interferes, love is lost, love is born, love is put on the back burner, as Beth continues her life’s journey, finding herself and who she is along the way.

After reading the synopsis of the book Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall, I was hooked and given the opportunity to read an advanced copy by Net Galley. The book was told in several sections based on character, with each section being told by way of the past, the present, and the trial. It was a great concept, and even though it is not the type of book I would typically read, I found it intriguing and hard to step away from. It was a great read, and I wouldn’t hesitate to read another book by this author.

There were a few editing issues that I found bothersome. Mainly, when a quote was being said by an individual, the response was typed on the same line, which led me to read that as a continuation of the statement, when in fact, it was a response by the other person in the conversation. Several times I had to go back and reread to figure out what in fact was being said, as it didn’t make sense the way it was written. There were a few other editing issues, but other than that, this was a great quick read!

Gorgeous and gripping storytelling. I was utterly riveted by Beth (past and present versions) and her life in the English countryside.

There is mystery, romance, longing, tragedy, love and the scene setting is beautiful. Once I read the first few sentences, I was hooked and could not put the book down. It was easy to care deeply about all the characters and experience their heartbreaks and triumphs alongside them. A wonderful read.

Thank you very much to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.