Beth and Frank are enjoying their farm life out in the country when a dog comes running into their yard and tries to attack their sheep. Frank's brother, Jimmy, shoots the dog just as the dog's family comes running into the field searching for him. When Beth sees who the dog's family is she is startled to discover that it is her oldest friend Gabriel. Gabriel and his son have moved to Gabriel's childhood home, one that Beth is all too familiar with. This meeting sets off a chain of events that leads to a love triangle, buried secrets, and murder.

I really enjoyed this book and feel it holds every emotion that a book should bring to the reader. Touching and warm, heartbreaking yet hopeful, you'll fall in love with every single character and won't want the journey to end.

Broken Country by Clare Hall is a poignant and evocative exploration of the complexities of identity, belonging, and the scars left by conflict. Set in a fictionalized post-war landscape, the novel delves into the lives of characters navigating the remnants of a fractured society. Hall's prose is intimate, capturing the emotional and psychological toll of displacement and war. The author paints a vivid portrait of a country grappling with its own brokenness, both physically and emotionally. Through nuanced character development and a deep understanding of trauma, Hall crafts a narrative that is both heartbreaking and hopeful, underscoring the resilience of the human spirit in the face of devastation. This book is a thoughtful, compelling read for those interested in themes of healing and the long shadows cast by violence.

The blurb says for fans of Paper Palace, and I found that to be true. I was sucked into this from start to finish. Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review 3/4/25

I enjoyed this book. It was a good mix of plot development and character development. While I found some of the plot twists a bit unbelievable, I still appreciated the author’s bold choices. It was messy, dramatic, the writing was good and I loved the English setting.

Brought me to tears at the end.
A love story… I usually don’t read them.. but this is much more.
A love triangle.. a few tragedies including a murder a mystery, a trial, some major twists.
Dual time frames.. all set in an English farming community.
Don’t miss this one!
Publishing on March 4, 2025

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

Wow! Broken Country ended up being so much more than I expected. I was captivated with each passing chapter and mesmerized by the writing.

Beth is married to Frank, who absolutely adores her and takes care of her in every sense of the word. Their marriage, while predictable and simple, is marred by the tragic death of their son a few years earlier, which leaves Beth open and vulnerable. With her first love Gabriel returning to the village with a young son of his own, Beth is put into a free-fall. Her struggles are resonating, raw, and poignant.

Beth and Frank are fantastically written characters and it was easy to root for them from page 1 to the very last word.
I hung onto each word and was sad to see this story come to an end.

A giant thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to enjoy this book before its intended release date of March 4, 2025.

Broken Country is a story of love in all its iterations - the sharp pierce of heartbreak, the intense, burning love of motherhood, the rolling waves of grief, its timelessness, and its endurance. This book is one of the must reads of 2025! It reminds me so much of Jodi Picoult’s early works with its mysterious suspense and vividly developed, flawed characters. The short chapters kept me flipping the pages, and I loved the bittersweet ending. It’s impossible not to be swept away in this story!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 ⭐️

I didn’t know what to expect from this, but I couldn’t stop reading after the first few pages! Broken Country is told between three timelines - before, 1968, and the trial. There is somewhat of a mystery involved, but the characters kept me hooked the whole time. They are so imperfect & fascinating, and we also get to experience multiple different themes - coming of age, marriage, friendship, etc.

Definitely recommend this! Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy.

broken country was exactly what I wanted and needed! it gave where the crawdad sings vibes. it had romance, rural vibes, and mystery. Theres a murder and we are going back and forth to figure out what happened. This book was emotional and sad and also ended up being a little more character driven than I would have preferred. But overall good!

4.5⭐️ Another can’t put down read for your 2025 TBR. First love, love triangle, secrets, and sacrifice set in a beautiful English farm countryside. I didn’t want this one to end and Frank will be one of my favorite characters for a long time.

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

Hidden gem! I didn't really know what to expect when I picked this up. (I picked it up because it was getting such good reviews, even though it's not my typical read.) I am so glad I did, though. I love the dual timeline. I love the mystery and the history. I love a tragic romance. This was all those. What an emotional ride. I highly recommend this! 5⭐

I received an advanced complimentary digital copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

This book left me broken. It is an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. I felt love, sadness, worry, anger, passion, betrayal, and hope. There are a couple of surprise twists that I did not see coming. The loyalty between the characters is so strong, and through flashbacks all the pieces come together over the course of the novel. It is a unique way of storytelling alternating the timeline until the reader gains a full understanding of “the situation”.

It is a complicated tale set on a farm on the English countryside in the late 1960s. Two of the main characters have aspirations of becoming writers; one of them gets sidetracked, but eventually finds her way back to the healing power of the written word.

I have many quotes that I highlighted on my Kindle while reading this e-book. Since this is an advanced reader’s proof I can’t share them now. All I can tell you is read this book as soon as it is published (estimated March 2025). I believe that you will absolutely love it as much as I did, and it may be the final book I read in 2024…but one that you all can look forward to reading in 2025.

4.5 stars. The author had a note at the beginning that explains where she got the idea for this story. It had to do with her husband and their puppy running around their property when the puppy gets too close to a farmer's livestock area and the farmer threatens to shoot the puppy. In that moment, the author had the inspiration for a story about a farmer couple and a dog who comes to eat their lambs and in the process gets shot. But she adds the 'women's fiction' element to it, that the owner for said puppy is none other than a past lover of the farmer's wife.

This novel is about Beth, the farmer's wife. She and her husband Frank have had a devastating loss of their son when he was 9 years old. It's obvious they are still devastated by this loss. And when they had to shoot the dog that came for their lambs, a little boy came running after named Leo. Leo is 10 or 11 and is crying about his dog and Beth consoles him, instantly reminded of her son.

She and her first love, Gabriel (who is a famous author now) get reacquainted despite her husband Frank knowing her past with him and the story goes on from there. We go back and forth from when Beth and Gabriel first meet and fall in love and to the present that also includes a trial because as the beginning of the book state, there's been a murder and the farmer is dead.

This is a triangle love story with a mystery interwoven into it. I enjoyed it very much. It was a guilty pleasure type of book that I did not want to put down but I did have a quibble- which is how her husband Frank could be okay with his wife forming a close relationship with her past lover when there was no real reason to. I know Frank said at one time, this isn't a great idea, but then that was it. Like, would any husband or wife be okay with their spouse having a close relationship after many years of not speaking at all? just weird.

Other than that, I really enjoyed this and have a feeling it will be a big hit when it's published in March. a

The cover of Broken Country makes it look like it is perhaps a cozy story about an English village. Reader, do not be fooled. This is Pastoral English Noir (did I just coin a new genre?)

I had no idea what to expect going in, because I never read plot synopses. When I discovered it was written in first person present tense, with multiple timelines, I was prepared for the worst, because these are some of my personal pet peeves. HOWEVER this one proved me wrong.

This tale of love, lust, and farming (yes, farming) in the English countryside takes place in the 1960s. Beth is our narrator. The first chapter starts with a death, so going in, we know something mysterious has happened, but as novels of domestic suspense always do, we will only be fed little bits and pieces of the truth, until the surprising conclusion hits us and everything falls into place.

What sets this novel apart from all the others in this genre is the beautiful writing, fantastic sense of place, the character development, and the emotional depth, as well as the exploration of what true love and sacrifice can be. Although I guessed one of the twists from the start, it didn’t matter because I needed to know what was going to happen and what had happened.

(Check out content warnings if you need to because this has some heavy themes.)

So many emotions with this book! Beth and Frank and Frank's brother Jimmy run the family farm in an England farming village. They are all dealing with the untimely tragic death of Frank and Beth's young son. Soon, Beth's ex boyfriend Gabriel and his son Leo move back to town, and this sets off a rollercoaster of events. Most of which I didn't see coming. This is a really well written book, I enjoyed reading it and these characters will stick with me for a long time. Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. I will recommend this to my friends.

A love triangle trope with a deadly mystery. I liked the relationship development after the long time apart. It felt very real and relatable. I will be looking for more books from this author.

A literary fiction novel that weaves a unique tale of a love triangle set in the 1968 about a young, educated woman who becomes a farmer's wife in a small English village. Her & her husband are happy until someone from her past moves to their small town. Secrets, lies and betrayals begin to swirl and as the reader I wanted to find out the truth.

I really enjoyed how this novel flashed across "before" and present day (set in 1968), it provided the backstory for Beth while also keeping the reader engaged with the current drama 🍿👀 This novel had aspects of a mystery and romance while also being more character driven than plot driven.

Thank you Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

Absolutely adored this book. I was looking for a British crime and what I got was SO much more. It's quite interesting to see just how far someone would go for one another - related or unrelated - and how that impacts their partners. How far do you go to heal a wound that you may not have made in the first place?

Broken Country
So many emotions! This book had me gasping for breath and reading for hours at a time. Wow, I could not put this one down. My emotions ran deep for these characters. I was so angry at the choices they made, while crying at their circumstances. Fantastic. Highly recommend it.

WORK OF ART. This book was PHENOMENAL. Easy in my top 3 that I read this year. The writing was beautiful. The story between Frank and Beth. Gabriel and Beth. Leo and Beth. Jimmy and Beth. All of it was so amazing. This gave me that same feel as Where the Crawdad's seem, which was also in my top 3. I will definitely be reading more by this author.