📖 Broken Country
Author: Clare Leslie Hall
Date Published: March 4th, 2025
🧵 Synopsis
From page 1 we know we are dealing with a murder. We begin in 1968. Beth and her husband Frank live a quiet life on a sheep farm seemingly utterly in love and fully immersed in their agricultural lives. When Gabriel Wolfe, Beth’s first love, returns to the village with his son old feelings are stirred and brought to the forefront. Beth hasn’t seen Gabriel for 10 years and despite their intense, deep relationship Beth had seemingly managed to move on from him and settle into her life with Frank. However, on Gabriels’s return, buried feelings and secrets resurface. Beth must confront her past and the choices that shaped her future. The story unfolds into a mix of romance, revealed tragedies, mystery, and courtroom tension, leading to a tense reckoning in a murder investigation. In this emotionally charged story timelines are interwoven, stirring themes of first love, grief, loyalty, family and forgiveness. We learn how our decisions can change the direction of many people.
🔖 Memorable Quotes
“You have to fool yourself into thinking you already are the thing you want to become. That’s what my father says. You write, therefore you’re a writer.” ― Clare Leslie Hall, Broken Country”“There can be no greater intoxication, no purer feeling, than the moment when you meet your child after all the months of wondering and hoping and dreaming. …… he is ours, we are his, we are three.” ― Clare Leslie Hall, Broken Country
🧠 My Thoughts
After seeing numerous extremely positive reviews online I decided to read this. Romance is not my favourite genre but the added intrigue of a murder convinced me try it. I must say I did not seem to enjoy this as much as most people. I always question myself when this happens! Is this my neurodiverse brain? The story was well written, I enjoyed the time hops, I also felt fully immersed in this rural setting. What I found lacking was character depth. The relationships felt a little superficial. The relationship I would have like explored more was the triangle between Beth, Gabriel and his mother. Her character intrigued me the most. There are events that happen in this story that need more explaining for me, for me to fully commit to the emotions I should feel on such huge revelations. If you enjoy heartbreak and romance this might be for you, I’m just sad I didn’t love this as much as everyone else seemed to.