#BookReview: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall @ClareEmpson2 @johnmurrays @efpbailey #BrokenCountry #ClareLeslieHall #BookOfTheYear #OutMarch2025

Book Synopsis:

Beth was seventeen when she first met Gabriel. Over that heady, intense summer, he made her think and feel and see differently. She thought it was the start of her great love story. When Gabriel left to become the person his mother expected him to be, she was broken.

It was Frank who picked up the pieces and together they built a home very different from the one she’d imagined with Gabriel. Watching her husband and son, she remembered feeling so sure that, after everything, this was the life she was supposed to be leading.

But when Gabriel comes back, all Beth’s certainty about who she is and what she wants crumbles. Even after ten years, their connection is instant. She knows it’s wrong and she knows people could get hurt. But how can she resist a second chance at first love?

A love story with the pulse of a thriller, Broken Country is a heart-pounding novel of impossible choices and devastating consequences.

Broken Country is out on the 4th March 2025.

My Review:

Broken Country is a gripping, emotional love story that I’ve been unable to stop thinking about since I read it. It’s going to be a hard book to review as I want to do it justice but at the same time not give anything away.

Firstly I thought that the author has created some wonderful characters who I warmed to instantly and enjoyed following throughout the book. It was lovely to learn more about them, the lives they lead and the different relationships they have with each other. Unusually for me I didn’t have a favourite character as they were all so likeable which I loved as it meant I could just sink into the book and enjoy the story.

The book is told from multiple timelines some detailing events from when Beth and Gabriel first met, one set in the present time and one following a trial which lets the reader know that something awful happened. I loved all three timelines and enjoyed slowly piecing together what has gone on throughout the course of the book.

I found the book incredibly gripping and I soon found myself drawn into the book and into the lives of the characters. The author does a great job of giving the reader a fly on the wall glimpse of everything that happens and slowly letting the story unfold so you can understand more about what happens next. The tension in the book slowly increases as the book continues and becomes so gripping I couldn’t put it down. There were lots of twists that made me gasp and helped keep me in suspense until the end which I always love. The ending was brilliant! One of the best and most emotional endings I’ve ever read. I was absolutely sobbing at the end which never happens.

Huge thanks to Ellie from John Murray Press for sending me a copy of this book. Believe the hype people this book deserves to be huge!

About The Author:

Clare Leslie Hall is a novelist and journalist who lives in the wilds of Dorset, England, with her family. Under the name Clare Empson, she published two domestic noir thrillers, Him and Mine, that were published in the UK and Germany. She has always loved The Go Between by LP Hartley and Broken Country is a nod to it, featuring a forbidden love affair with catastrophic repercussions. Broken Country is her US debut.