Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

 

Summary (from the publisher): “The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.”

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.

A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.

Review: At first blush, this book seems like it might be a straightforward love triangle: Beth has been married to many years to her husband Frank. In the aftermath and grief of losing her child, she reconnects to her first love, Gabriel, who has returned to their village after a recent divorce. But as time goes on, the story becomes more intricate and complicated. 

Told in alternating chapters that move back and forth in time, Beth's perspective deliberately obscures details and big twists, only slowly unraveling her story. We know early on that Beth and Frank's young son has died, but now how. And we know that someone else has died, but not who or how for a long time. 

This book is filled with great tragedy, loss, and pain. There are trigger/content warnings galore. There are so many ominous moments, dark moments and details that build suspense and a sense of foreboding to the final big reveals. But it was so beautifully written and so tenderly unfolded that I couldn't help but propulsively continue until the conclusion. Hall does an excellent job at showing versus telling. For instance, Beth stares at wet drops on the knees of her jeans from her tears falling. She looks obsessively at a photo of her son that she carries everywhere in her purse. 

Despite knowing in advance that there were big reveals at the end of this novel, I was still taken aback when they finally come to light! I was listening to this on a walk and stopped dead in the road and clasped my hand over my mouth in shock. This book really seems to have it all - great love, heartbreak, great loss, despair, murder, a trial, huge secrets - all set in a bucolic farm setting juxtaposed with the great estate that is Gabriel's inheritance. 

Beth is a complicated character. I liked her immensely and felt deep empathy for her, despite her infidelity. But truly the most earnestly good character in this book is Frank. His love and devotion to Beth, no matter what, was inspiring to see. Frank, while obviously deeply feeling, does not react out of jealousy or anger, but instead responds out of love and a sense of his own failings. 

I listened to the audiobook version of this novel, and it was a true delight. The narrator's voice was so immensely beautiful that I have a hard time separating out my love for the actual words of the book and my love for the way she voiced this story. Highly recommend listening to this if possible. 

When writing this review, I truly couldn't think of any major issues I had with it or any real critiques. A true 5 star read for me. 

Stars: 5