This is one of those books that will sit with me for a long time. This is the type of book in which you find yourself thinking about the characters throughout the day. Claire Leslie Hall did a fantastic job of helping you to feel what the characters are feeling and while poor decisions are made, it also reminds you of the messiness and heartaches of life. This book is set in two different time periods- "before" and incident and walking through "the incident". We follow the story of Beth, Frank, Gabriel, Leo, Jimmy, Nina, and Bobby who have complicated dynamics and each person is someone that you find yourself rooting for at some point in the story. If you liked books like Beartown by Fredrik Backman or Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann then you will love this book. Thank you to the publisher, author, and net galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

A beautiful yet heartbreaking tale of a love triangle turning awry.

Thanks Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the invite to read this ARC!

Synopsis -

Beth and Frank are happily married. Their relationship might be built on buried secrets of the past, but they share a wonderful life together on their farm. When Frank’s bother Jimmy, shoots a dog that attacks their sheep, the gunshot might be the game changer for all their lives - for the dog belongs to Gabriel, Beth’s teenage sweetheart.

Review -

Hall’s portrayal of the 1960s English countryside is excellent. I could vividly picture the farming life - the hardships and challenges that go hand in hand with the sweetness of the harvest and satisfaction of the yield of the land.

While the past thread delves deep into the character development of Beth and Gabriel, the current one builds up the intrigue and suspense factors around the ongoing murder case. I would bet that one wouldn’t be able to guess the exact circumstances, the defendant and perpetrator until both of these narratives collide.

As the story develops, I could feel myself getting to know these characters intimately, experience their emotions, celebrate their joy, commiserate with their grief, loss and every twist of fate they navigate.

The writing complements the author’s imagination and storytelling - the combination elevating the quality of the prose. The book explores themes of sacrifice, redemption, unspeakable tragedies, betrayal, unrequited love and the true essence of marriage.

The revelations that come, hit us squarely in the chest, barely leaving room for gasps while the subsequent ones follow. The court room scenes especially are packed with tension and nerve-racking edge of the seat intensity.

The ending truly left me ‘broken’ - as I was torn between feeling happy and heartbroken for these characters, crying bittersweet tears while also hugging my kindle so that I could be as close to them as possible.

A debut that combines historical fiction and mystery thriller genres in the most ingenious way - sure to go places!

The opening sentence packs quite a punch. You are instantly into the book, wondering what just happened. It's set in the beautiful countryside just outside a small village in England. A place where everyone knows everyone and notices more than they maybe should. It's a story of love between brothers, friends, lovers, family and most of all love of the land. It centers around a tremendous loss and how that effects all those around it. This is a story that will remain with me for some time. Life is complicated, love is complicated.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I was excited to read this book based on all of the hype it was getting. Unfortunately though, this book didn't really hold my interest. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and the plot. I am wondering if this book may be better as an audiobook??

This book exceeded my expectations; it was such an amazing story, and the characters were so memorable. I was totally engaged throughout the entire novel.
The book was full of vivid descriptions and vivid imagery to the point where I felt like I had slipped into the pages.

This deserves all the hype it's getting - such a beautifully written story with some romance, suspense, family drama.. it really has it all. Definitely emotional too, I could feel Beth's pain for Bobby. The characters were really well-developed and felt real. I thought the ending was perfectly, and honestly how the story was supposed to end. Highly recommend!

Review live now on Goodreads and the StoryGraph

Broken Country is Clare Leslie Hall’s debut about Beth Johnson who is married to her steady, loving husband Frank. She married Frank after a first, deep, serious relationship with Gabriel fell apart when he went away to school. In 1968, she is living a happy content life surrounded by Frank’s family and working the family land. but there are secrets.

Beth and Frank have been grieving for two years since their son died in a terrible accident so when Gabriel and his young son move back home after he separates from his wife, Beth has a lot of complicated feelings to manage. She finds herself more and more involved in Gabriel and his son's lives. Intense feelings, jealousies and secrets surface in this well paced fantastic book!

Multiple timelines, a love triangle,, murder, a trial!! Such a great book with wonderful writing. It will be one of my top books of 2025.

First thank you to Simon & schuster and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis: Beth was young when she met Gabriel while at school. Gabriel is rich and cultured and Beth is not. She falls hard for him but doesn’t work out. She moves home and marries a local kind man. However things from the past come back and changes her life

What I liked: this book is very good but it is a slow burn. Beth, frank and Gabriel are all great characters with lots of layers. It is very interesting to see how their lives are connected. I won’t give any spoilers but it is very complex. I thought the book dragged a bit in the middle but the ending makes up for it. I’m still thinking about the main characters frank, Beth and Gabriel and their actions. I definitely didn’t agree with all of their actions but was interesting to read and talk about.

A genre mash up that kept me turning the pages for the whole book. It was historical fiction with some mystery and family drama. It explored the grey areas of life.

A story of long lost love, and a thriller, all wrapped into one! Beth and her husband Frank are living a quiet life in the present, hoping to leave the past behind, when an event happens, that brings Beth face to face with her long lost love, Gabriel Wolfe. Gabriel has returned to their town with his son in tow and all the memories come flooding back to Beth. She's grieving a son she lost with Frank, who was the same age as Gabriel's son Leo. There is such great character development here and this book has been compared to 'The Paper Palace' and 'Where the Crawdad's Sing', which are two favorites of mine. You'll feel for Beth as she struggles between her present self and what might have been. All the characters are likable, just put into tragic and unmanageable circumstances. How they decide which decisions to make and why is the heart of the story. An epic tale that is beautifully written and will stay with you for awhile.

Thank you, Netgalley, Clare Leslie Hall, and Simon & Schuster for the ebook. I'm still wiping my tears. This was an emotional and heartbreaking read. My heart broke multiple times during this read. So well written. The lengths you'll go for love and to protect those you love. An old love and current steadfast love collide. A great read.

A very complex and heavy story, but the characters were so well developed I could not stop reading until I finished. At times frustrating, exhilarating, sad, and romantic. This was a story where I should not have liked the characters but I found myself hoping for a satisfactory ending for all of them.

Broken Country is going to be the book of the year in my opinion. The chapters are really short and alternate timelines, which was a propulsive device that I really liked and made it hard for me to put down (I didn’t- I stayed up all night finishing it). It is being compared to Crawdads and Paper Palace, and that is spot on- it is a cross between the two (both also books I loved). I love that this is a romance, courtroom drama, and mystery all bundled into one. It was heartbreaking, infuriating, and surprising, and I couldn’t put it down.

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY! I definitely need to buy several copies of this book so that when someone asks me to suggest a book, I can grab a copy and excitedly say, "This one! You have to read this one!" I will be recommending it to everyone!

There is a lot to absorb in this emotional novel. It is a dramatic and tragic love story filled with secrets, lies, and infidelity that leads to destruction. I found myself asking, "Is a happy ending even possible for any of these characters?" Beautifully written, uniquely plotted, and tensely executed with a double shocking ending to put the icing on the cake! All I can really say is WOW!

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and the team at Simon & Schuster for so graciously providing me with the opportunity to read a digital ARC of this amazing book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Lies, secrets, and more lies. This is what this book is all about.

Set in the late '60s, this is a book about a poor girl falling in love with a rich boy. They are both out of their element, but it works...for a while.

I don't particularly like books that promote cheating on one's spouse, but there was a tiny bit of something that told me I should read this until the end. With that said, there are huge twists and turns in the final few chapters that sort of make the cheating make sense.

This was quite the emotional novel that deals with cheating, the death of a child, and another unexpected death.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Simon & Schuster, the author, and NetGalley.

Thank you @simonandschuster and @netgalley for the e-ARC.

Wow. Where do I even begin? First, this a shimmery, and glowing five star book for me. It’s a bit literary fiction, a bit mystery, a bit romance. Very genre bending. It’s described as a sweeping, sexy love story and I completely agree with that. However, do not be deterred if you don’t read romance. I’m not a big romance reader.

This book has taught me what it is about other books that just don’t sit right with me, and that is drama for the sake of drama, forced romantic connections, things that just don’t feel as if it’s naturally occurring as part of life. This book nails that feeling that these things happened because that’s just how life works sometimes.

Our protagonist is Beth. This is her story and her life. There’s a love triangle, there’s loss and travesty, and it’s haunting and emotional. And what I really want to say here is read the synopsis if you need more info. Or go in blind if that’s your thing. I don’t want to spoil a single thing about this reading experience for you.

Just know that I (predominantly a thriller and horror reader) was completely swept away by this love story. It’s going to stay with me for a long time.

A warning that there are very heavy topics and themes throughout this book, so check those out if you feel you need to.

This was a beautifully written, thought provoking story. I am now a huge fan of this author. The descriptions used by the author to portray the settings and the emotions were so good that I could hear the birds, see the land, feel the sun on my face, and feel the characters hopes and their pain. What a wonderful job she did!

The story starts off at the end. Does that make sense? It certainly does if this author has written it. You instantly know that someone has died and someone is standing trial for the murder. You are slowly introduced to the characters and their backstories. Piece by piece the story comes together like a jigsaw puzzle. Still there are pieces that are missing and the whole thing fails to make sense until that very last piece is found.

This is the story of Beth and the two men she has loved in her life. She loved Gabriel when she was young and she is now married to Frank. She discovers that Gabriel and his son have returned to the area after her brother-in-law shoots a dog attacking their sheep. The dog belonged to Gabriel's son. Things get complicated between the two families from that point on and emotions run high.

Please read this book. You won't regret it.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the ebook copy of this fantastic book. All thoughts are my own.

Every so often, a book comes along that grabs my attention, where I feel so fortunate that I got to read it. This is such a story. It drew me in and didn't let go until the end, when we finally learn about everything that has happened.

The novel starts explosively on an English farm in 1968. Frank and Beth Johnson own and work this farm, along with Frank's brother Jimmy. We quickly learn that even before this incident, something horrible has happened to this family, and that there are a complicated chain of events that has brought everyone to this situation. And then we fast forward to a trial. I fear that if I write anymore I will give away something that is better discovered by each reader.

This "mystery" is slowly revealed throughout the novel with flashbacks and fast forwards. I was never confused throughout the back and forth time shifts. Clare Leslie Hall's writing evokes such a strong sense of place. She also expertly handles each character's complicated emotions where I did not feel manipulated into feeling one way or another.

Thank you #Simon&Schuster for providing me with a digital early copy of Broken Country in exchange for my honest review. This book comes out today, March 4th, and I will be recommending it to everyone. It will surely be one of my favorites of the year.

Reese’s Book Club March ‘25 pick.

5 stars. Loved loved loved! This may be my best read of the year. Hall has painted such a beautifully realistic, vivid picture on page that it appeared to be a true to life story. This talked about hard topics but Hall handled them so well and really gave you a look at its effect on those it impacts. BROKEN COUNTRY was such an intriguing, emotional, heartfelt and heartbreaking book that literally caught my breath, brought tears and is a story I won’t soon forget. If you’re looking for a read that will bring out all the feels look no further. An excellent debut that I highly recommend. Pub. 3/4/25

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this novel. I know everyone loves this one but the whole country boy vs aristocrat (or city slicker or whatever) thing is so overdone. There were some (predictable) twists on this one, but not enough to make me interested. The descriptions of farm life, the aristocratic family, etc, were so well-worn and were sketched out at only the highest level. I felt like I was reading a screenplay for much of the novel. I heard it has already been snatched up, which makes sense. It is being compared to Crawdads, but I thought that one had a lot more pathos, which made it more interesting. Clearly I am in the minority here.