Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
⭐ 3/5 Review: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
⚠️ Trigger Warnings
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Death (including child death)
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Animal death
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Graphic violence
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Suicidal ideation
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Addiction & substance use
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Sexual content
💭 My Thoughts
This was a total page-turner — the kind of book you blow through just to see how it all plays out. The mystery here isn’t “thrilling” in the edge-of-your-seat sense, but it is compulsively readable. Still, I landed on a 3/5 rating. Why? Because while the storytelling is exciting, I couldn’t quite buy into the characters’ choices — especially the men being so obsessed with Beth, who honestly comes across as self-doubting, unbendable, and not particularly likeable. (And yes, she secretly stops using her diaphragm to get pregnant with Grace. Who does that? 😳) And don’t even get me started on the rationalizing of cheating. This may have worked for me as a teenager, but as an adult reader, it’s a hard pass.
📝 Spoiler-Packed Plot Summary
Set in 1950s–1970s rural Dorset, Broken Country follows Beth Kennedy, a working-class girl who falls in love with Gabriel Wolfe, the privileged son of a wealthy estate. Their young romance implodes when Beth thinks Gabriel cheated; she ends up pregnant, and Gabriel’s mother bribes her to disappear. Beth marries Frank Johnson, a steadfast farmer who raises the baby as his own.
Their son Bobby grows up on the farm but dies tragically in an accident with a falling oak tree under Frank's watch, devastating the family. Years later, Gabriel returns to the village as a famous novelist, bringing his son Leo. Beth reconnects with Gabriel, becoming Leo’s caretaker — and eventually rekindling her affair with Gabriel, even as Frank spirals into grief and guilt.
Things explode when Frank’s troubled brother Jimmy storms Gabriel’s estate with a shotgun. In the chaos, young Leo fires a gun and kills Jimmy. Frank, crushed by guilt, falsely takes the blame to protect Leo. He’s convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison. During his sentence, Beth gives birth to Frank’s daughter Grace, while Gabriel learns Bobby was actually his biological son.
The novel closes on Frank’s early release in 1974: Beth and Grace are working the farm when Frank walks back into their lives. Grace runs to him for the first time, and Beth reflects on their tragic past — and the chance for a new beginning.
🤓 Bottom Line
Broken Country is an absorbing, decades-spanning drama about class, love, betrayal, and guilt. The writing kept me flipping pages, but the character dynamics (and some of Beth’s choices) made it a frustrating read. Still, if you like sweeping rural dramas with courtroom scenes and long-simmering secrets, this could be for you.
📚 If You Liked This, Try:
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We Must Be Brave by Frances Liardet
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Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers
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Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
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