Oh baby this one is full of gossip and tea - an affair, a pregnancy, an accident, AND a murder. Splitting between timelines with short chapters it’s easy to fly through. Would love to see the movie.

A heartbreaking, beautiful story. I think I will need a few days to process this one. The characters were well written and I found myself caring more about them the further I got into the story. I would definitely recommend this to others. Thank you for providing me a copy of the book.

A beautiful story of love, family, loss, and perseverance. First love is that which never fully fades. Even a love that ends in sadness, as Beth and Gabriel's did. True love is a different kind of love. A love that endures time, tragedy, and hardships, as Beth and Frank's.
This story holds characters that are developed as strong characters with bold character. The author embraces their lives as we read, completely immersing the reader into the lives of those incredible characters.

Beth lives a quiet life as a farmer’s wife after experiencing tragedy. When her childhood love, Gabriel, comes back into her life her idyllic marriage and home life are forever changed.

This is one that the full meaning and impact of the book will not hit you until the end and then you’ll want to reread it. Most of the story we are getting to know the characters. Towards the end a lot of the events are revealed and brings more meaning to the story. I loved Frank’s character and want even more of him in the story. I’ve never had a “book boyfriend” but I’d take him! This story really has it all… forbidden romance, love triangle, courtroom drama, sibling relationships… and more!

“This is a love story with too many beginnings. I refuse to think about how it is going to end.”

Broken Country comes out 3/4.

Well, shoot. I had no idea what to expect with this book and I kind of felt that way the entire time reading it! Love triangle-y, love story, family drama, murder, legal drama, all the things. Broken Country follows Beth from young adulthood, into adulthood, from first love to the man she marries. But what does Beth do when her first love comes back into the picture and their past is more tangled than most anyone realizes? For much of the story, I was having a very hard time with Beth, I just don't think I liked her or what she was doing all that much. By the end I had warmed up to her a little bit, even if I was still questioning her judgement. I tried to put myself in her shoes and that helped me understand her choices a little bit. Either way, this was a little bit thriller and that made it quick paced and a fast read. It was one of those stories where you think you might know where it's going, but you're not fully sure until you get to those final few pages. Really enjoyable read!

This book wasn’t for me. It’s well written and the pacing is good but the love triangle and the mystery were a bit much for me. The twists weren’t too bad.

I received an arc from Netgalley and the publisher.

WOW. I am absolutely blown away by Broken Country. I don’t even know how to put into words how much I loved this book—it completely consumed me from start to finish. Clare Leslie Hall has crafted a breathtaking, immersive novel that seamlessly blends romance, historical fiction, and suspense into a story that lingers long after the final page.

Set against the hauntingly beautiful backdrop of the English countryside, Broken Country unfolds across two timelines—Beth’s passionate, youthful love in 1955 and the tangled, devastating consequences of that love in 1968. The reappearance of Gabriel Wolfe, her first love turned renowned novelist, upends her quiet life with her husband, Frank, setting off a chain of events that lead to tragedy, heartbreak, and an unforgettable murder trial.

The novel is packed with everything I love in a great read: sweeping romance, gut-wrenching loss, a gripping mystery, and complex, deeply human characters. The tension simmers on every page, and even when I saw certain twists coming, I was still completely enthralled. The writing is stunning, the emotions raw and real, and the way Hall explores grief, betrayal, and redemption is just masterful.

I truly could not put this book down. It’s easily one of the best books I’ve read in a long time, and I know it will be one of the most talked-about books of 2025. If you love immersive literary fiction with a compelling blend of romance and suspense, Broken Country is an absolute must-read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ALL the stars!

Thanks Netgalley + Simon & Schuster for the eARC!

Clare Leslie Hall’s BROKEN COUNTRY is a hauntingly beautiful exploration of loss, grief, resilience, and the enduring power of unconditional love. The author, through her beautiful prose, weaves together a narrative that delves into the scars left by tragedy and the search for healing and ultimately, redemption.

The true strength within the pages of BROKEN COUNTRY is the rich characterization, which helps draw you as the reader into the lives of our protagonists. We are introduced to Beth, Frank, and Gabriel, whose lives, for better or for worse, are intimately intertwined by fateful circumstances. We follow their emotional journey through the decades and become immersed in their world, feeling every moment of joy, heartbreak, and hope, making the book nearly impossible to put down. Frank, by far, was my favorite character. I fell in love with his quiet strength, utter selflessness, and genuine goodness.

BROKEN COUNTRY will no doubt be one of my favorite books of 2025. After finishing it, my heart was hurting and my emotions were raw. Beautiful, poignant, and breath-taking, this is a novel that lingers long after the final page.

I want to extend a huge thank you to NetGalley, Clare Leslie Hall, and Simon and Schuster for gifting me the ARC of BROKEN COUNTRY! I appreciate you trusting me with an honest review!! It was a privilege to be able to read this novel before publication in March.

I can only describe Broken Country as a crescendo - in the beginning, I wasn’t sure where it was going, except that there was clearly a love triangle and heartbreak. But small details are slowly revealed and it soon builds to a point where I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

With short chapters and a relatively short length, this book packs a punch. I imagine it will be a book club pick for March and will be a highly talked about book in 2025.

CW for dog death & child death

"Broken Country" by Clare Leslie Hall is a story that mixes love, loss, and memories from the past. It takes place in a small town and looks at how relationships can be complicated and how secrets can change lives.

The main character is Beth, who seems to have a happy marriage with her husband, Frank. But their peaceful life is disrupted when an accident involving a dog brings Gabriel Wolfe, Beth's first love, back into her life. Gabriel's return makes Beth remember feelings she thought she had forgotten. This sets up a story that is both emotional and exciting.

The author, Clare Leslie Hall, uses detailed descriptions to bring the setting and characters' feelings to life. As Beth deals with her mixed emotions about Gabriel, the story explores themes like jealousy, regret, and the choices we make. It makes readers think about what love and loyalty mean.

At the center of the story is a love triangle, as Beth struggles with her past and the life she has now. The story moves between past and present, adding depth and context. As secrets come out and tensions grow, readers will be eager to see how the characters handle their connected destinies.

"Broken Country" is a mix of romance and suspense that fans of books like "The Paper Palace" and "Where the Crawdads Sing" will enjoy. Clare Leslie Hall has written a story that not only surprises with its twists but also touches readers emotionally. It's a book that will stay with you even after you finish reading it.

Broken Country is a beautifully written mix of romance and suspense, full of buried secrets and past heartbreaks. Beth’s story is emotional and gripping, with a slow-burn tension that builds to a powerful conclusion. The rural setting adds to the drama, and the dual timelines keep things intriguing. It’s a great pick for book clubs—lots to discuss about love, loss, and the choices that shape us!

This is a 5 star trainwreck! A must read for all trainwreck lovers! The reader knows some of what is coming and has to keep turning the pages to find out what actually happened. The reader also doesn't know everything that happens and has to keep turning the pages to find out what happened. No character is safe from the heart-wrenching agony of their lives' paths and connections. Character development played a secondary role to the plot, but that doesn't mean the reader doesn't get to know the characters. While I do not condone some of Beth's choices, I could see the same end result happening. It just felt like this was all fated to happen!

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster. I’ve seen this book all over the internet already, being called the upcoming book of the season— and I’m happy to say I think that’s true. Broken Country is a romance, a courtroom mystery/thriller, and a family story all wrapped into one. It’s a beautiful story that kept me hooked from the first page to the last.

I think one of the biggest draws of this book is the well written setting and sense of place, as it’s been so beautifully crafted by the author. The setting was visceral and I was fully seated for the whole book. The characters were also well developed and felt very real, all of them very human for better and for worse. This plot does not move in a strictly linear fashion and shifts back and forth between time periods; however, each separate section was enjoyable to jump back and forth between and the pacing was done so well. This book was easy to read, while still covering emotional topics and characters sifting through difficult decisions. Watching our main character, Beth, grapple with tough choices and character development, all the way from her teen years to early adulthood and finally, present day, well into adulthood, was enjoyable and it was so easy to feel for her through various challenges and heartache.

I can absolutely see why this book is being lauded already and I’m sure this will be a favorite of the year. I look forward to seeing what others think once this is published soon!

Oh my heart... Broken Country is everything! If you enjoy books about first love, true love, forbidden love, love triangles, familial bonds, coming of age, dual timeliness, courtroom procedures put this beautiful book on your TBR immediately. This masterpiece gave me ALL the feels and wrapped itself around my heart in ways that should be forbidden. ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!

Was it an accident...or was it murder?

A small town in rural England is the unlikely setting for a scandalous love triangle which leads to a killing. In 1955 a teenaged Beth is wandering in fields near her home one summer day. The daughter of teachers, she loves reading novel and writing poetry, and dreams of romance and a love like that of her parents. She literally bumps into Gabriel, a boy close to her age who is the son of local gentry. They discover that despite their differences they have much in common...both aspire to be writers amongst other things....and they fall quickly and deeply in love. Gabriel's mother is not in favor of the romance, and makes sure that Beth is aware of the many ways in which Beth is ill-suited for a relationship with someone of a different class. When Gabriel heads off to Oxford in the fall and Beth remains behind to finish up her last year at the local Catholic school in preparation for heading to university, they are sure that they are meant to spend the rest of their life together...but events prove otherwise. There is an angry breakup, and Beth is devastated. A local boy who has long admired her, Frank, reenters her life and they marry. Instead of going to university Beth becomes a sheep farmer's wife and soon thereafter a mother to a son Bobby, and is living a happy life. In 1968, a newly-divorced Gabriel returns to his family's manor in the village with his young son and reconnects with Beth. In the years between Bobby has died and Beth still grieves his loss; spending time with Gabriel's Leo is helping her heal. Frank is not happy about the time Beth is spending with Leo and Gabriel (their marriage is already strained by Bobby's death) and Frank's hot-tempered younger brother Jimmy even less so. Tempers flare when it is discovered that Gabriel and Beth have crossed the line of friendship into an affair, and a confrontation leaves someone dead and another on trial for murder.
There is nothing I enjoy more than a novel that within a few opening pages has me completely immersed in a different world, with characters whom I feel are friends I have just met, and Broken Country is that sort of book. In the opening paragraph it is announced that someone is dead (although the reader won't discover just who until much later), and there are hints of the violent acts and tragic accidents that can occur even in a peaceful place like a rural sheep farm. The all-consuming first love between Beth and Gabriel, the forces that pull them apart, and the happiness which Beth came to find with Frank and Bobby unfold to great effect, while all the while the reader knows that something terrible is coming. Each character, from Beth and the two men whom she loves to both the son the reader only knows through flashbacks (Bobby) and the one that Beth comes to love (Leo), and the other people who make up Beth's circle of family and friends, are thoughtfully rendered. Love doesn't necessarily conquer all, and terrible choices are made for the best of reasons. In the end each must pay the price for bad choices they made. Readers of Elizabeth Strout, Anne Tyler and Alice Hoffman must give this novel a try, as should any lover of well-constructed novels which weave love, jealousy, loss and redemption into its pages. Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me early access to this beautiful story in exchange for my honest review.

I'll be honest, this felt fairly predictable and not so nuanced that I wasn't sure about this book. BUT the last page is one of the most beautiful things I've literally ever read. I took a photo of it and return to it frequently, so that is the marking of a great book.

A truly astounding novel. Clare Leslie Hall constructs characters that feel real and lived-in and almost painfully recognizable, people whom you can't help but root for even when they're making deeply chaotic decisions. I ruined a night's sleep and fully ignored the next day's to-do list to gobble down this book and it was absolutely worth it. For every twist and turn I saw coming, there was another that fully blindsided me and made me gasp out loud. What a story. What an incredible story.

Secrets have a way of surfacing, no matter how deeply they’re buried. In Broken Country, a novel that straddles the line between literary fiction and crime drama, Clare Leslie Hall crafts an atmospheric novel where love, loss, and betrayal collide in an English farming village in 1968. Beth is a woman caught between two loves — her steadfast husband, Frank, and her first love, Gabriel, who suddenly reappears in her life after years away. The reawakening of old feelings collides with the weight of past tragedies, and as tensions rise, the novel methodically builds toward a crime that will reshape everything in Beth's life.

This is a book that thrives on slow-burning suspense. From the start, we know someone in Beth’s life is on trial, but we don’t know who or why. The crime element looms like an approaching storm, and when the truth finally lands — along with a gut-punch of a twist — it’s worth the wait. The novel’s structure, toggling between past and present, makes for a compelling read, and the writing flows effortlessly.

Beth’s relationships with both men feel richly developed, and the love triangle is explored with nuance rather than melodrama. The class tension woven throughout — especially the stark contrast between Gabriel’s privileged upbringing and Beth’s village life — adds another layer of complexity. The historical setting isn’t overly emphasized, but the rural backdrop plays a key role, shaping the characters’ choices and constraints.

So, why four stars instead of five? Honestly, I’m not sure. The book is well-written, carefully plotted, and emotionally resonant, but something about it just didn’t fully click for me. That said, I can absolutely see why so many readers love it, and I still highly recommend it — especially for those who enjoy literary fiction with a suspenseful edge. Readers who enjoyed God of the Woods will likely love this book too.

This was addicting and I never knew what would happen next. The characters are so clearly written and I cared for all of them. I loved how the ending played out and I keep recommending this to people.

4.5 ⭐️

I finished this book a few days ago and have been struggling with writing this review. I know I won't be able to write the review this book deserves but I am going to try my best.

Broken Country is a story about young love that turns into a love triangle that ends in tragedy. While the story is sad and heartbreaking to read at times the author tells it in such a gentle way that is almost soothing.

The character development and the story, combined with the author's writing style and way of telling a story, took this book to another level.

This is a book I can't say enough about and highly recommend. It is a book that will stay with me for a long time.