Set in the bucolic farms of rural England, the story of Beth, her lovely husband Frank, and their small family seem like the cast of a fairy tale. But despite their happiness, the peace is breached first by a gunshot, and then by the re-appearance of Beth’s first love.
As a romantic, I can’t decide who I should root for, the man who was forced to leave Beth, or the one who was always on her side, despite the circumstances. The setting is the perfect background for this heartbreaking story, and I promise, it will not just be the country that is broken, but your own heart, too.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this lovely ARC. It was published March 4, 2025, and should not be missed!

3.5 stars

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall is receiving tremendous attention and rightfully so. It’s character-driven as well as plot-driven with powerful writing and a strong sense of place.

Beth is the cornerstone of this novel set primarily in rural England in 1955 and 1968. Primary themes include marriage, motherhood, and grief, and there’s much for book clubs to discuss.

I was completely pulled into the story, told in three non-chronological subplots, and was immersed in characters’ emotions to the point I felt physically tense while reading the majority of this book. Content warnings: The death of a child and infidelity are key plot points; a dog dies early in the story. Often infidelity in novels doesn’t bother me, but it was very upsetting to me in Broken Country because Frank, Beth’s husband, reminds me of my husband in many ways.

I’m grateful to Simon & Schuster for providing a review copy of this thought-provoking novel.

Well I bawled through this whole book. But in a good way. If you want a book that is going to rip you apart, then I suggest Broken Country.

I felt so many emotions through this entire read and now that it’s over I don’t know what to do.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Wow—this book pulled me in right away and didn’t let go. Broken Country is an emotionally charged story about love, grief, and the way the past never really stays buried. The tension builds slowly, weaving between past and present as Beth is forced to confront old wounds when her first love, Gabriel, returns to town.

The relationships are messy and real, the twists genuinely surprising, and the ending? So satisfying. I loved how everything came together in a way that felt both unexpected and inevitable. If you’re looking for a book that’s gripping, emotional, and beautifully written, add this one to your list! 4.5/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for my free review copy.

4.5 stars

I rounded this one down a half star only because I felt like the end of the book wrapped up so quickly in a neat little bow, and although I loved how it ended, I felt like the actual story and plot being built up was more enjoyable. This one was out of my usual go to but I was intrigued, and I'm so glad I stuck with it.

It was a little slow to start but once the story got going I was completely hooked. The shorter chapters helped with keeping me engaged and I was able to get into the story. I loved the bouncing timelines and never felt confused as to what was happening.

This book was heart-wrenching and the characters were complex. In one second I loved the FMC, then would hate her for her decisions, then loved her again.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely superb! Broken Country is everything you would want in a family drama- mystery, romance, shocking reveals, murder, sibling relationships...all weaved together with a redemptive thread that knots together perfectly at the very end. Ah, I loved the story so much. This will likely be one of my favorite reads of the year.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #Simon and Schuster for the ARC.

After seeing a lot of hype on this book, I picked it up! I’m sure glad I did. Written in dual timelines, this book follows the story of Beth and the two loves of her life, Gabriel and Frank. This book will stay with me for quite some time, it was beautifully written and the ending was one that will definitely get you. Highly recommend this one if you’re looking for a romance with a few serious elements to it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Beth and her husband Frank live on a modest farm outside of London, primarily tending to sheep. When a dog wanders on to their farm one day and starts brutally attacking their livestock, they have no choice but to immediately shoot the dog, failing to realize that the owner is not far behind and happens to be the son of Beth’s first love, Gabriel. Little do they know that the consequences of ending the dog’s life are about to turn their entire world upside down, forcing Beth, especially, to not only relive and confront her past but to also re-enter the orbit of her former lover forcing her to question her entire future. Add in the multitude of secrets and lies that are unearthed from this unexpected meeting and the stage is set to put not just Beth’s life in jeopardy, but many of the villagers as well.

🌳 Wow, just wow. Despite the heaviness of the story, I enjoyed the daylights out of this book! I finished it in 48 hours and sort of wish I didn’t read it so fast so I could keep reading it! It was just one of those books!

🌳 Mysterious with a rollercoaster of love and heartbreak, this book drew me right in from the first chapter and I rarely came up for air. The twists and turns kept going right up until the very last chapter!

🌳 Read this if you like raw, emotional novels that focus heavily on “the one who got away”.

I don’t know what to say other than OH MY GOODNESS! Stop what you’re doing and get this book NOW. Love, loss, family, secrets, heartbreak, old love, new love, marriage, jealousy, life, death, a lot of what if’s, and so much more. The writing is truly incredible. Beautifully developed characters and story made for an emotional read. I read and listen to a lot of books and throughout the year add to my personal “best of” lists. This went on​ it the moment ​I read the last word. Additionally, I bought the audiobook to listen to. It was that good.

Wow! This novel will take your breath away. It opens with a mystery and ends in the most beautifully messy way. Beth and her husband, Frank, have a quiet marriage where they work their farm with Frank's brother, Jimmy, and try to recover from the loss of their son. One day, Jimmy shoots the neighbor's dog, leading Beth to discover her first love is back and living next door with his son. This discovery leads to an event that leaves one dead and another on trial. Broken Country is a character-driven novel full of richly flawed people. Hall captures all the imperfections that make us human and paints a picture where grief, love, and forgiveness can tear us apart and put us back together. The story jumps from present day to when Beth was a teen to a time when Beth and Frank's son was alive. Each moment felt so important and demonstrated how even the simplest of lives can contain so much depth. I fell deeply in love with Frank in these pages. He is one of my favorite characters I have ever read. I highly recommend this book and will look for more from this author in the future.

I picked up this book at probably 9:30pm at around 40% and thought to myself, “I’ll just read a chapter or two before bed!”

Cut to: midnight, the book is finished, and I can’t sleep because it all fell apart so magnificently and then you got the emotional knife absolutely BURIED in your heart at the very end.

This read took me be surprise in a very good way. Just when I started to question if the build-up was feeling a little bit slow, each of the various threads start to come together and and then things happen real quick!

One note of caution — while there’s suspense elements, I’ve heard a couple people be disappointed because they were assuming there were going to be more “murder mystery” type vibes. This is not that type of book! It’s more of a literary fiction that just so happens to keep you in suspense longer through its structure, as it introduces pieces of the conclusion at the very beginning.

I for one loved the style and the quickly accelerating downward spiral of the plot. Definitely recommend and hope you enjoy it too!

Beth and Gabriel. Beth and Frank. Destined for tragedy as the young relationships fire and then fizzle. I loved the setting of the small village and farm life and the characters were well developed and memorable. Women's rights in the fifties and sixties didn't allow for as many choices for women, and here we are again, how timely. the twists at the end were a bit predictable, but the format of a trial interspersed with the before and after narration is clever. A solid read.

Cop provided by the publisher and NetGalley

This was beautifully written, in a style I see more and more of: something tragic happens right at the beginning, and the rest of the novel is told through different times in the story as we catch back up the present. I like that style of writing, it lends a bit of a mystery to the story. This story follows Beth from teenage time falling in love with a posh neighbor through her adult years dealing with lots of love and lots of death as a farmer's wife. The reveals felt a bit predictable, and the ending was not my favorite, but I can see why so many people are loving this book!

Broken Country involves young love story and the journey of loss, love, coming of age. Reese Witherspoon's book club picks mostly are reliable as and attention grabbing. ..This book was a bot slow to get into , but ultimately has a great message.

“The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.” Wow - what an opening, right? This definitely drew me in to Broken Country and made me excited to see where this story would take us.

It’s hard to separate a book from our reading experience - the same book might hit totally different based on my mood and expectations. Broken Country has been getting a ton of buzz and rave reviews from friends so I came in with high expectations and that may have negatively impacted my reading. The first third of this book felt a little slow to me and I considered DNFing. I’m glad I didn’t stop - it did pick up and the second half was really compelling.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted ebook to review.

Does anyone else find it incredibly difficult to write reviews of books you loved? I’ve been putting off writing about 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗞𝗘𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗬 by Clare Leslie Hall for far too long solely because I just cannot seem to find the words that will do my admiration justice.⁣
⁣
As you’ve no doubt already heard, this is a complicated love story. The kind of love story that exists on multiple levels. It overlaps, wraps around itself, and ends up in a tangled mess that’s filled with both angst and beauty. ⁣
⁣
“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥.”⁣
⁣
Taking place almost entirely in a small English village, at the heart of this story is Beth, a farmer’s wife who has deeply loved two very different men in her lifetime. One fateful summer in the 1960’s, their three lives converged in ways that left my heart feeling heavy and my mind with much to consider. ⁣
⁣
I don’t want to say more. My advice is to go in as blind as possible and let the layers reveal themselves in an organic way. Hall’s writing is propulsive, tender, and poignant, but not at all flowery. She left me wrecked, in ways I hadn’t imagined. 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 has been compared to 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 and I think that comparison is quite apt. I suspect fans of the latter will adore Hall’s book. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 was my favorite book of 2021 and I can easily see 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 sliding into that same spot this year. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟⁣
⁣
Thanks to @simonbooks for an electronic copy of this book.

3.5

It was a quick read. I enjoyed the switching between the before and present time period. It kept me wanting to read more. I didn't find the characters that likeable and was waiting to find out the truth of what happened. It did surprise me but not enough to rate it higher. If you read the description and think you would like it, you probably will.

I received a free copy of of the Ebook from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Broken Country has everything - love, death and the kind of secrets that are better off buried. Enough twists and turns to keep me turning the pages!

Wow, this was a great book! I love all the layers to the story and the characters are well developed. This is probably my favorite book so far this year and it will linger with me for a long time. The surprise at the end, I never saw coming. I would highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Net Galley, Simon & Schuster, for an ARC of this book, and Claire Leslie Hall for such a beautiful story.

Thank you to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This story is a bit of everything rolled up into one - mystery, romance, motherhood, relationships, . It starts with an introduction to Beth sitting in the gallery watching Frank as he stands trial for murder. We then go back in forth in time learning about who Beth is and the men she has loved and the choices she has made that has lead to this first scene in the story. There are twists and turns all while a young woman learns of a world that doesn't always support and accept her, trying to make brave decisions and finding a way through heartbreak to make a life for herself. This was a page-turner and I very much enjoyed the writing and character development.