This is the book that everyone is talking about. It’s on so many lists as top picks and the book buyer for the chain I work for has chosen it as one of her reads. Maybe that’s why I was a little bit underwhelmed with the book. Sure it’s beautifully written, heartfelt and tragic but it’s just how books used to be, almost Mills and Boon like. Star Crossed lovers marry other people but still love each other, and the big twist at the end was obvious from the start. Having said all that I will recommend it as it’s a lovely read with no swearing or graphic sex or anything offensive really which sometimes make books hard to recommend .
Beth and Gabrielle have been sweethearts since college but when Beth thinks he has been cheating on her she breaks up with him. Enter Frank, the local farm boy who has loved her since he was 13. They marry and life is great until the death of their son Bobby in an accident on the farm. Along with Franks brother Jimmy, they soldier on as it’s all they can do. A few years later Gabrielle returns to his hometown with his young son Leo. Gabrielle and his wife are separated and he has Leo for a while. He asks Beth to mind Leo for him and soon they rekindle their romance.
I won’t say any more as it will give too much of the story away but I will say someone is soon dead, and a trial ensues.

#BrokenCountry. #NetGalley

Big thanks to Hachette for a copy on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Broken Country is a memorable, enduring tale that comes across as a mix of family saga, slight thriller and curious mystery.
It has timeless, historic feels and the reading experience should play your heart strings.
It’s 1955 and Beth meets Gabriel and a passionate first love begins.
Then Gabriel leaves and Beth’s heart breaks.
Frank helps Beth mend her heart and they build a life together.
She is happy at last with her life and son.
In 1968, Gabriel returns and Beth defies all and takes a second chance to be with her true love.
But then murder happens and a trial begins that shocks the small town community.
It gives off Where The Crawdads Sing vibes and while I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, I felt like it lacked something that I can’t quite put my finger on.
The writing is engaging and the storyline is quite captivating.
Film rights have been snapped up and we can expect a movie sometime in the future with Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine production company.
A stable narrative story with vibrant descriptions and vivid dialogue.

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall is a poignant and evocative novel that captures the complexities of the human experience against the backdrop of a rapidly changing world. The book is both a deeply personal and a broadly societal exploration, examining themes of identity, loss, and resilience in a fractured country.

The author’s writing is lyrical yet grounded, providing a rich sense of place while maintaining an intimate focus on the characters. Hall excels in weaving together the individual stories of those struggling with the weight of both personal and national turmoil. Each character feels fully realized, and their emotional arcs are compelling, inviting readers to reflect on their own experiences in a divided world.

One of the novel’s strongest elements is its ability to delve into the intricate emotions of its characters. Hall captures the nuances of grief, longing, and hope, allowing the reader to feel connected to these individuals on a deep level. The challenges the characters face—both within themselves and in their interactions with society—resonate long after the final page is turned.

At its core, Broken Country is about navigating a fractured existence, whether through the lens of a specific historical or political context or in a more universal sense. Hall's subtle yet powerful narrative pushes the reader to consider what it means to belong to a place, to a people, and to a history that may not always be kind or just.

While some may find the pacing slow at times, the book’s meditative tone allows for a reflective experience. The novel’s quieter moments offer an opportunity for introspection, creating a contemplative atmosphere that lingers.

Ultimately, Broken Country is an exploration of healing, both on a personal and collective scale. Hall’s poignant storytelling and her vivid portrayal of complex emotions make this novel a captivating and thoughtful read. It’s a must-read for those interested in literary fiction that challenges the boundaries between personal experience and broader societal issues.

4.5⭐️

This was so, so, good.
Part love story, part domestic thriller, Broken Country is a story about love, loss, family, and the ways in which particular events can trigger chain reactions and change the course of one's life.

It's set in rural England in the 1960's, and while I wondered about the time period when I begun reading it, as you progress you realise this story wouldn't make sense in a more modern setting.
There's a sense of urgency in the pacing of the writing - the scenes are kept short, pushing you along from one thing to the next, showing you snippets, flipping back and forth in the timeline. It keeps you guessing right to the end.

It may be a short book but it is definitely not short on emotional impact or character development, I felt like I was grieving and yearning right alongside Beth. I was in tears more than once, especially towards the end.
Broken Country is a beautiful story that explores love, heartbreak, and grief in a nostalgic and introspective way, and I truly enjoyed reading it.

I really liked this a lot. Beautiful writing that really made the characters, emotions, and the pastoral setting shine.
This is Beth's story and is set in 1960s rural England. Her and husband Frank have a stable marriage, despite the tragic loss of their son two years ago. Until her first love, the upper class and famous author Gabriel, returns to town. They quickly become close again, but this all leads to another tragic disaster.
This is a literary love story, not a romance. It was a quiet story, but I found myself gripped to the pages.

Hemston, North Dorset. Beth Johnson has no idea when her brother-in-law Jimmy shoots a vicious dog, it will change her and husbands Frank’s relationship and cause tension between the siblings. The dog belongs to Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth fell in love with thirteen years ago and he broke her heart. A newly divorced Gabriel has returned to his estate Meadowlands with his son Leo, and he reminds Beth of her deceased son Bobby.

Gabriel is a famous author and Leo doesn’t fit in at the village school and Beth feels sorry for him and Gabriel asks Beth to help. Being together the feelings they once had for each other resurface, Beth is torn and she loves both men and she has no idea what’s she’s going to do. Frank is sweet and kind and has loved Beth since he was a teenager, and he feels very guilty about Bobby’s accident and he’s not sure if she’s forgiven him. When rumours begins to circulate after Jimmy and Nina’s wedding day, things spiral out of control, and with deadly consequences.

I received a copy of Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall from NetGalley and Hachette Australia & New Zealand in exchange for an unbiased review. The narrative is both a family saga and a thriller and set in 1955 and 1968 and where the past and the present collide and it has lots of twists, turns and deviations and many I didn’t see coming and are rather shocking.

The characters in the book are interesting and so are their relationships with each other, Beth and Frank, Gabriel and Leo, and Jimmy and the late Bobby whose presence they feel and see on the farm, from his favourite tree, to the sheep and their newborn lambs frolicking in the paddocks. The loss of a child is a tragedy, one you would never get over and it either makes a couple drift apart or brings them closer together.

The novel raises topics such as first love and how it holds special memories and a place in a person’s heart, what happens if they return and how feelings resurface, and the flow on from this and in a nutshell it’s all about choices, good and bad and ones made in the heat of the moment and what happens afterwards. Five stars for this thought provoking and compelling, tender and expressive read and one I highly recommend.