Absolutely loved this book! It's a love story wrapped up in a thriller, with intriguing characters that stand up and walk off the page. Beautifully written and atmospheric, but not in a pretentious 'let me see how many adjectives I can use' way. I was gripped from the first page to the last.

My heart is so full of feeling, emotions I cannot name, neither joy nor sorrow but something in between. This is us, I think. This is us.

When you listen to what the tabloids are saying about the trial, you think you know. A love triangle turned sour. A country house wife trying to bring some excitement to her life. A husband devastated. Told in a back and forth style between now (1968) and then, we learn of the devastating truth between Beth and Gabriel and Frank.

Wow, I read this book in one sitting. And I am devastated. I didn't really know what to expect heading into Broken Country but having seen the hype I was desperate to give it a try. This book is a beautifully written, absolutely devastating masterpiece. It has been a while since I've shed so many tears whilst reading a book.
At only 302 pages I was unsure how I'd grow so attached, feel so much with so few pages but its safe to say that I didn't need to worry. I was genuinely captured by the first couple of pages.

Whilst this is about family and an all consuming love affair, there is so much more to it - even a thriller type aspect that kept me reading, desperate to learn how things were going to unravel. I'm honestly a bit lost for words and can see why this book is being screamed about from the roof tops.
I don't want to say too much as I think it is one to experience without knowing too much, but this is one of the best debuts that I've ever read, truly.

A really engaging, emotional read with beautiful descriptions of the countryside and farming life. A slow start which was given interest by the beautiful prose but dragged from time to time, however this then became an absorbing story which moved me to tears. Love, obsession, loss and a mystery, this novel has them all.

Wow
What a tour de force this book is , sometimes a novel comes along which just captivates you from the start & Broken country is one such book. A literary love story crossed with a thriller , a dual time line jumping between the youthful passions of Beth , Gabriel and Frank & a later date of their adult worlds colliding. Whilst reading it I couldn’t get over it’s a debut novel , it is a wonderfully written book of a compelling love triangle with that age old question, is it possible to be in love with two people at the same time ? And how an exciting love/ lust relationship or fling can confuse a deeper shared daily life kind of love . Broken country has been compared to where the crawdads sing , and the paper palace , I’d say more on a par with paper palace and just as gripping . We have to wait until March for this wonderful book to be in the shops and I will be buying a copy for myself and all my friends.

5 stars all the way!

Such a raw, heartbreaking story. It held my attention from start to finish.
I wish I could read it all over again for the first time!!

A story about a love triangle that ends up with a criminal trial at its centre. Perfectly readable, very sad as child loss is at its core, but not sure it’s a read that will stick with me. I just didn’t end up caring for any of the characters, except for one who I couldn’t help but wonder why he stuck around.

With thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

Oh my gosh! Broken Country has broken my heart but also put it back together again.
This book was incredible. Such a beautiful story of love and heartbreak with so many intricate layers. I could not put it down!
I loved all of the characters, ok maybe not Tessa, but all of the others, flaws and all. I just want to stay immersed in this book forever. It is so beautifully written, it was as if I too were sat by the lake, strolling across the fields and having my heart repeatedly broken and pieced back together again.
I know I will remember this story for a very very long time and this book has well and truly earned its spot as one of my all time favourite reads.

I am crying!!!

Crying so hard and I feel bereft
What a story. there were complicated feelings and emotions here but it's all so moving and well, you just have to see for yourself and try not to break down as you read.

The title is very apt as the word broken is included and honestly that is how you will be afterwards and for a long while after.

This was such a brilliant first read of the year. Set in the 1960’s, Broken Country is centred around a love triangle that has devastating consequences. This book has everything I love, a sweeping love story, a crime that leaves you second guessing until the final pages, and characters that feel so real and believable you feel like they could be living in your town. I flew through this book in a few days because I had to know what happened and had become so emotionally attached to the characters. By switching back and forth in time, information about the love triangle, and the crime that has taken place is slowly revealed, until you’re hit with an emotional gut punch in the final 50 pages of the book.

This is a well told story of all-consuming love, loss and guilt. Most of all, it is a story about grief and the effect the loss of a child has on the parents individually and on their relationship.

It is set in Hemstone, a small village full of little secrets where everybody knows everyone. The setting is highly idealised but that does not take anything away from the raw emotions experienced by the main protagonists.
The present time of the story is 1968, in which we get introduced to the main characters but it is the time ‘Before’, starting in 1955 that makes sense of the present. Simultaneously, there is also a trial going on, of which we get snippets of action without really understanding what it relates to and where it is heading until the very end of the book. Only then everything falls into place. The story is populated with likeable characters and fluently narrated – all in all a good read.

I am grateful to NetGalley and John Murray Publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was sent a copy of Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall to read and review by NetGalley. I absolutely loved this book! Not only is it a love story between people it is also a love story to the land and nature. I found all the characters to be believable and even though the passages regarding life on the farm were perhaps romanticized I still felt that this was a reasonable take on how people with generations of family farming the same piece of land may feel. This novel slowly unfolds between two timelines and the author gives the reader enough space to really connect and empathise with everything that occurs. I will certainly be searching out more of her work in the future. Well worth the maximum 5 stars and more.

Utter perfection from start to finish, I want to go back to the start and read it all again, its that good. This novel had me spellbound from the opening pages, thank goodness I wasn't working when I read it, I'd have been sneaking off to the toilets to read another chapter.

Beth and Gabriel are a thing, Gabe heads off to Uni, breaks Beths heart and local farmers son Frank picks up the pieces. Thirteen years later Gabes back, recently divorced with his son in tow.

You've read it all before and you know how this is going to go, believe me you don't. Broken Country has so much more, richly defined characters, a small community, wonderful landscape, a perfect sense of time and a knockout storyline, if you dismiss this as just another love story you really are doing yourself a disservice.

Broken Country moves seamlessly between 1955 and 1968, its characters perfectly laid out, their flaws, insecurities and dreams laid bare for the reader to indulge in. This novel is going to be huge, my first read of 2025 and I loved it.

Clare Leslie Hall delivers a gripping and emotionally charged tale in Broken Country, a novel that masterfully blends the intensity of a thriller with the yearning of a sweeping love story. Set across two pivotal timelines—the “Before” of 1955 and the “Present” of 1968—the narrative explores the haunting legacy of first love, the fragility of relationships, and the secrets that can either bind or unravel lives.

The story begins with a seemingly mundane event: Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog threatening their sheep. What appears to be a simple act of protection quickly spirals into something far more profound when the dog is revealed to belong to Gabriel Wolfe, Beth’s first love, and the man who shattered her heart years ago. Gabriel’s return to the village with his son Leo brings Beth face-to-face with the ghosts of her past, as well as echoes of her own grief over her late son Bobby.

Beth’s life with her husband Frank, a kind and gentle man, seems stable on the surface, but their marriage is built on unspoken truths and a shared hope that the past remains buried. As Gabriel and Leo re-enter her world, tensions within the village rise, jealousy flares, and long-buried secrets begin to surface. The novel crescendos towards a devastating climax, as Beth is forced to confront the woman she was, the life she chose, and the life she still yearns for.

Hall’s storytelling is both seamless and evocative. The dual timelines are flawlessly interwoven, with each chapter adding layers of depth to the characters and their motivations. The short, tightly written chapters drive the pace forward, making it nearly impossible to put the book down. The trial, which looms in the background for much of the story, is revealed with precision, tying the narrative together in a way that leaves no loose ends.

The characters are richly drawn, their emotions and conflicts rendered with an authenticity that makes them feel like people you’ve known. Beth is a particularly compelling protagonist, torn between love and duty, grief and hope. Gabriel and Frank are equally complex, and even the supporting cast adds texture to this vivid, atmospheric world.

Broken Country is a stunning exploration of simmering passion, impossible choices, and the explosive consequences of buried truths. Clare Leslie Hall captures the universal struggle between holding onto the past and moving forward, crafting a story that lingers in your mind long after the final page. A must-read for fans of emotionally resonant fiction with thrilling twists.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

I found this to not be what I expected. But I did in the end enjoy this book.
While it was slow starting. By a third of the way in, I started to become investing in the characters story. Figuring out what happened and why.
By the end I felt for them all. They all went through so much, in different ways.

This is a cross genre book that is both a mystery thriller and a romance. It is a tale with several narrative lines that intertwine with devastating consequences. I found it difficult at first in keeping track of the timeline but when it all starts to make sense it is worth the initial struggles. I think the author has created a very evocative setting and a good cast of characters. Some of the individual scenes were brilliantly created. I would definitely read more from this author

A love story that will make you wonder the true love you gave up years ago or the one you are with now is a better choice. It’s a thriller and romance between our choices. Really enjoyed this story.

I started to read this book a few weeks ago but stopped as I'd lost my reading mojo. After reading a couple of other books, I came back To Broken Country and I'm so glad I did this. I came at it with new appreciative eyes. What a book! I've loved Clare's previous novels but this went to a whole new level. Although it's predominately set in the 1960s, it felt as though it could have been set in any period - it's such a timeless story. The plot is gradually revealed and done in a way that you're never quite sure what's fully going on, which I found intriguing and kept me guessing. Clare Leslie Hall writes about the relationships in a beautiful and nuanced way - from tender first love to the all-encompassing love of a mother. It's a love story, a bit of crime, and elements of a saga all rolled into one. It's simply wonderful and a must-read for 2025.

I really enjoyed this book. We know from the start that someone is on trial for murder but we don't know who. Beth is married to Frank but they are both grieving the loss of their young son. Beth has never forgotten her first love, Gabriel, who broke her heart when she was 17. Now he has moved back to the village with his own young son. Can they be friends after everything they went through? This is a great read that will keep you enthralled right to the end. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

WOW!

Some books you start and they grab you immediately, you are immersed in the story instantly, its not hardwork to retain the characters, its not a struggle to stay focused...its just a joy! This is one of those books. I have been finding it hard to get into a book for awhile and even took a break. This was the perfect book to recapture my love of reading. I devoured it. I really don't want to talk about the story, the synopsis just doesn't do it justice. This story is all about the feels...I experienced every emotion while reading this...longing, sadness, heartbreak, joy, frustration, anger; it ticked every box for me. Just trust me on this, if you loved Where the Crawdads Sing and Paper Palace I am pretty sure this will be a hit for you too. I can't wait for my girlfriends to read it so we can discuss it in detail ... just have a big box of tissues ready before you start. Enjoy!!!

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I found it a very emotional read. Such a beautiful story of a story of love, deceit, family life in a sheltered community set in 1968 and earlier. There were high points and very low points. It is extremely well written and easy to understand the characters and their emotions at the time. I highly recommend this book and completely agree with the reviewer who likened it to 'Where the Crawdads Sing'
A memorable book.