This book completely devastated me in the best possible way. It’s the kind of story that gets under your skin and stays there, lingering long after you turn the last page. At one point, it actually made me cry—full-on, ugly crying—and I don’t think I’ll ever forget the way it made me feel. It’s an exploration of love in all its messy, complicated forms—romantic, familial, platonic—and it’s handled with such care and honesty.

The story follows Beth, who’s living a quiet, happy-enough life with her husband, Frank. But then Gabriel—her first love—comes back to town, and wow, things unravel fast. Old feelings bubble up, secrets come out, and before you know it, choices are being made that send everything spiraling. What makes it even more powerful is how the book holds back the details of the tragedy itself. You know something devastating has happened, but the specifics—who’s involved, what really went wrong—are revealed piece by piece. That tension just makes the story hit even harder.

The dual timelines are woven together so beautifully, pulling you deeper into the story with each chapter. And the characters? They feel like real people—flawed, layered, trying their best but making mistakes. There aren’t any clear villains, just people grappling with the weight of their choices. That complexity is what makes the story so powerful.

This was an easy 5 stars for me. It’s beautiful, heartbreaking, and impossible to put down. If you’re looking for a book that will make you feel everything, this is the one. Just be prepared—it won’t let you go easily.

An easy-to-read novel, Broken Country includes great character development and complex relationships that span decades in a bucolic farming town. The main characters keep many details of their pasts hidden from each other, which then creates tension and difficult situations and decisions later. I felt the author was hoping that the reader would feel an element of surprise at the end, but the plot felt transparent to me.

I loved this book! The characters were complex, the story unfolded beautifully, and the writing was exquisite. I did not want this book to end. It was simply beautiful from start to finish. .

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Broken Country grabbed me from the first pages and never let me go. It was so intense; such an emotional land mine of a book.
It starts when a dog attacks a herd of sheep and is shot dead by one of two farming brothers. Turns out Gabriel, the dog’s owner, has just returned to his family’s estate with his eight year old son. But as a teenager, he had had a passionate love with Beth, before dumping her for someone more of his social caliber. Now Beth is the wife of the other brother. Before long, a love triangle has started and a murder follows. What is unclear is who the killer is and who was the victim.
Told across multiple time periods, from the 1950s to 1975, it follows Beth’s life from when she meets Gabriel through the “present”. The book gives an excellent sense of time and place throughout.
Told solely from Beth’s POV, Hall takes a risk when making her main character an adulterer. I couldn’t relate to her decisions, but I was engaged by them and everything felt very real.
I usually am not a fan of anything that smacks of romance. But this is much more a family drama and a murder mystery. And the characters are all so well developed, it was easy to become invested in their fates. The ending wasn’t a surprise. It played out exactly as I expected. But this wasn’t a book where I needed a big twist to feel fulfilled.
This would make an excellent book club selection. There’s so much meat her to discuss.
My thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this book.

This book is an absolute masterpiece that had me hooked from the very first page! When Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog to protect their sheep, I had no idea how deeply that single moment would change everything for her. The dog belonged to Gabriel, Beth’s teenage love, the one who broke her heart so many years ago. And now he’s back, with his young son Leo, who brought so much emotion into the story by reminding Beth of her own son, Bobby, who she tragically lost.

Beth’s life felt so real to me, filled with love and heartbreak, and her relationships with both Gabriel and Frank were so layered and genuine. Frank, her husband, completely stole my heart with his quiet strength and deep love for Beth. He’s such an unsung hero in this story, and I found myself rooting for him just as much as I did for Beth.

The way the story flows between the past and present is seamless, and it pulled me right into Beth’s journey. Every twist and turn had me gasping, and there’s so much packed into these pages—love, regret, jealousy, forgiveness, and moments of pure joy and sadness. I found myself crying, smiling, and even holding my breath at times.

What really stuck with me was how relatable Beth’s struggles felt—holding on to the past while trying to live in the present. Her choices, her emotions, and even her mistakes all hit so close to home. I didn’t just read about her life—I felt like I lived it with her.

This is one of those rare books that stays with you long after you turn the last page. It’s heartbreaking, hopeful, and filled with so much raw emotion. If you’re looking for a story that will make you feel everything, this is it. I can’t recommend it enough!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

A stellar, literary masterpiece that is sure to be the top read of 2025! I'm quite speechless after finishing this book. I didn't think anything could compare to Where the Crawdads Sing, but this emotionally charged tale ripped my heart in half. It was hauntingly raw and profound. I wanted to cry my eyes out quite a few times. There were many complex tropes that weaved together seamlessly. A mixture of love and mystery. The story in its entirety was compelling and beautifully written. There were even a few shockers that I didn't see coming. This book was amazing! High praise to the author for delivering such an intense, dramatic story that I will never forget. I will definitely be picking up more of her novels in the future. I highly recommend! This book needs to be read by all!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for granting me digital access via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review!

Beautifully written and emotional love triangle story. Gut renching and complex. Worth it! I enjoyed the dual timelines and thought it was done well.

Amazing! I cannot wait for this book to come out so the world can enjoy it! Where the crawdads sing vibes but uniquely done. Forbidden love, coming-of-age, rich vs poor, so many tropes to enjoy! Not to mention, all the little twists and the court scenes! The back and forth timeline was done extraordinarily well! And I liked the parts being split up by characters while still being chronologically written! I really felt like I was in a whole other world, with great character development!

Thank you NetGallery and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read this eARC!

This was a great read, kept me really engaged. I loved the style of writing. Highly recommend to anyone! I could not put it down!!

Omg, this book was amazing! I couldn’t put it down. It originally gave me vibes of The Notebook and kept me wanting to keep reading, but the love story that arises is a lot deeper than a simple boy meets girl. I read an ARC of this story, and I highly recommend it to anyone once it comes out in publication. 5 stars!

Clare Leslie Hall’s Broken Country is a masterful narrative that weaves intricate details into a gripping story. From the first chapter, Hall draws readers into a world layered with tension and intrigue, skillfully building toward a breathtaking conclusion.

My only complain (and a very minor one) would be that in the first part of the book, the back and forth in timelines happens too frequently and disrupts the flow of the story. The first half of the novel sets the stage with a slower pace, inviting readers to immerse themselves in the richly developed characters and the complex web of relationships that anchor the story. This deliberate buildup proves essential, as it lays the groundwork for the explosive final third of the book, where the narrative momentum shifts to a faster pace. The pace quickens with a sense of urgency and purpose, delivering twists and turns that keep readers on the edge.. Hall demonstrates her skill as a storyteller as she success in making the climax feel both inevitable and surprising. Highly entertaining and expertly crafted, Clare Leslie Hall has delivered a novel that lingers in the mind long after it is finished. I highly recommend this book.

This book had everything with all the feels and I was sad to see it end! I loved the characters and story in Broken Country. Broken Country is definitely one of my top reads for this year! Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC.

This historical fiction is character-driven with a focus on themes of guilt, love, and loss. The story is told from a single POV but several timelines. Despite it being told from several different timelines, they’re clearly labeled so it was relatively easy to keep track of what was happening when. It did make it so that there isn’t much of a plot in this work, but the characters were strong enough to carry it. The ending of this work is also quite strong and just as satisfying.

Despite my general hatred of love triangles, the author used the trope well. It helped to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the characters, and I loved that there was no clear “right” or “wrong” choice. The characters were complex and well written, and I was deeply immersed in their stories.

If you like character-driven historical fictions that are immersive and somewhat melancholy, then this is worth checking out. My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read this work, which will be published March 4, 2025. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC. I really enjoyed this book. I was quickly gripped by the plot and very invested in the outcome. I love a time jump between past and present, and the author did a great job weaving the two timelines together in a way that kept you on the edge of your seat and helped you grow attached to the characters. Overall, this is a satisfying read. The end had maybe one too many reveals/twists for me, personally, but not in a way that detracted from my overall reading experience. Recommended!

What a beautiful, captivating story! I was entranced from the very first page and absolutely could not put this one down!

The story takes place in the Before of 1955, the present time of 1968, and The Trial, though you don't know when or why it's occurring until later. When her 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 all those years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son Bobby, who died a few years earlier. Set in rural England, Broken Country is a heartbreaking story that includes heavy topics, such as young love, motherhood, marriage, tragic loss, grief, forbidden love, family tragedy, and forgiveness.

This book was wonderfully balanced, and Clare gave just enough information to make me want to keep reading but still managed to surprise me with unexpected plot twists. I don't know what it is, but I also love books that span multiple genres. This is one that I will forever recommend and buy for all my friends. I can't get over how much I love Broken Country.

Oh my goodness this book was UNPUTDOWNABLE! I was glued to my kindle the entire time I read Broken Country. I couldn't wait to find out what happened and how everything played out. After finishing it, I still have so many thoughts. I loved how it ended, but at the same time I was also wishing for something else. So many conflicting emotions. I love when you find a book like that! SO GOOD. I will be recommending this to everyone when it comes out!

Broken country was an amazing read!! Well written and well thought out. The story is full of surprises and will tug at your heart strings.

⭐⭐⭐ for me. This book was well written, but the characters just didn't stick with me or feel fully fleshed out. None of the relationships made me feel much for the characters. I actually really enjoyed the author's note at the beginning and loved the idea behind exploring the reality of a pastoral life--the good, the bad, and the ugly--and to a certain extent, Broken Country did deliver on this promise, but I honestly would have enjoyed more focus on the land and the nature (a la Where the Crawdads Sing) as opposed to purely focusing on relationships that still felt underwhelming to me. Still a solid read that I think many people will love.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read and review this book! It caught my attention due to the similarities with Where the Crawdads Sing and this story did not disappoint! The story begins at Blakely farm a sheep farm owned by Frank and Beth and Frank’s family where a new dog shows up and begins attacking their flock so to stop the attack Jimmy Frank’s brother kills the dog. This begins the relationship with Leo, Gabriel’s son who is also Beth’s former boyfriend and neighbor at the Meadowlands, his family estate. Beth takes Leo a puppy to say I’m sorry about your dog and starts a motherly relationship with him while getting to see and talk with Gabriel. She treats him like her son Bobby whom she lost 3 years ago and we find boys and pieces of this story through out the book. The story is written in a dual timeline format with Gabriel and Beth’s history, Frank and Beth’s history, current time and then a trial for the murder of someone from the town but it is not revealed until the end of the book. I loved all the descriptive details of the farm and the land along with the relationship of Beth with both Gabriel and Frank. I felt for Frank throughout this story because he was so loving and caring toward Beth, but she was still in love with Gabriel. This story was all about a lot of miscommunication and stubborn characters. The twists at the end made me both sad and happy. I would definitely recommend this book!

I enjoyed this book. There were lots of issues tackled from young love, broken hearts, enduring love, loss of a child, and murder. While the characters were all well developed and mostly likable, Frank just seemed a little too understanding. Who would really be so calm and understanding if their wife’s old lover returned and took up with her. His selflessness in taking the rap and sparing Leo were also a little hard to believe.It is a beautiful story, however.