Broken Country

Luckily received the book without any scratches on the cover or damaged corners despite the fact that the book was not bubble wrapped as usual.

After "The Correspondent" by Virginia Evans, this is another book worth your time. Interesting from page 1 & not a single page where you feel bored. One of the stories where your heart goes out for each & every character, you laugh & cry with them, you get absorbed in their helplessness, despair & sorrow. This one is a masterpiece by Claire Leslie Hall!

When I first read the blurb, it thought it was just another love story - loss, love, relationships and grief. Honestly, it didn't grab me. But thank God I gave it a chance, because this book will stay with me for a very long time. It's one of those rare stories that made me angry with the good characters and sympathise with the flawed ones. This kind of love story you don't come across easy, trust me. The story revolves around three main characters Beth, Gabriel and Frank. Beth and Gabriel the classic childhood sweethearts destined for heartbreak. And then Frank the steady knight who swoops in to save the girl already broken once. Years later Frank and Beth have built a quiet happy life with their son Bobby, until tragedy strikes. The grief of such a loss never really goes away, but they continue to try. Enter Gabriel(celebrity author) returning to his hometown along with his son Leo. Beth, Gabriel, Frank and Leo's lives get entangled into a roller coaster they cannot seem to switch off. Temptation, sacrifice, love, parenthood, relationships all swirled into one big pot. Beth still loves Gabriel, but she also loves Frank. It sounds that simple, right? The way Hall weaves this tale, is nothing short of masterful. Imagine a John Grisham tension blended with a Liane Moriarty's emotional depth It is a must read-I cannot say it enough.

I’ve heard so much about this book but somehow the title was a deterrent. My advice to anyone who thinks the same - don’t. It’s a beautiful book filled with raw emotion.

The beauty of the book is the well-developed characters - the star crossed lovers, the interfering mother, the sacrificing husband. It’s a story about class, parenthood, guilt, and deep family ties. There is a nice twist towards the end, and all the loose ends neatly tie up together. By the end of the book, it will feel like a Bollywood movie plot though. It’s a pleasant read; enough to make you shed a few tears and sigh, if that’s your thing.

Clare has woven the plot in a very wholesome manner providing all answers to a tale with many twists and turns.

I was disappointed as primarily the book turned out into a Mills and Boon type narrative. The author does not go into the depth of the main characters. Beth the protagonist seamlessly moves from her first relationship and love with Gabriel to Frank an honest hard working reliable and steady farmer. As soon as Gabriel reappears in her life that too after 11 years she goes back into a passionate relationship with him with no compunctions or feelings of guilt. Implausible at least to me. Can a woman be like that - women would know better. And Frank he quietly accepts it with no hatred towards Beth. Strange. He is even civil and polite with Gabriel. Even more strange. I found this rather unreal. Granted a writers liberty but this could have been handled in greater depth and exploration in the minds of the characters. The countryside and life on a farm is very well described. I liked the supporting characters of Jimmy - Frank's brother and his girlfriend Nina. Also very implausible the denoument of the murder - shot by an eleven year old boy! Unreal! The Trial did not grip you! If I were the author Frank would have shot Gabriel,got away with it and asked Beth to leave him and go ahead and seek a new lover! What would you have done?

Wonderful read.

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall ⭐ 5.0/ 5.0 This book absolutely destroyed me in the best possible way. Broken Country is one of those rare books that feels painfully real. It's deep, emotional, heartbreaking, and completely unforgiving. Clare Leslie Hall shows no mercy to her characters. Every choice, every mistake, every secret and every consequence matters. This is truly a story where actions have weight, and nobody escapes them unchanged. The story follows Beth Johnson, caught between Frank Johnson and Gabriel Wolfe, and what I loved most is that there are no villains and no heroes. Everyone is simply human. Everyone is trying to love, survive, heal, and find happiness while making mistakes along the way. I couldn't fully take anyone's side because they all had reasons for what they did, and they all paid a price for it. What hit me hardest was seeing how differently Beth's life unfolds because she is a woman. Many of the choices and consequences she faces would have been viewed completely differently if she were a man. The book quietly but powerfully highlights those double standards without ever feeling preachy. The writing is stunning. The dual timeline flows effortlessly, and even though the story moves between past and present, it is incredibly easy to follow. Clare Leslie Hall's descriptions made me feel like I was standing in those fields, breathing the country air, feeling the grief, the longing, the passion, the melancholy, and the heartbreak right alongside the characters. This isn't a big book, but it carries the emotional weight of something much larger. Beautifully written, devastating, intense, and unforgettable.

Super

Loved the dual timelines! The twist and ending were the best.

Wow, wow, wow. I'm a grizzled 65YO infantry soldier who shouldn't read books like this; and yet... I came outa' the womb reading books! This is a phenomenally good book with an ending so unexpected, I'm still struggling to work out how I missed the surprise(s). Not to be missed... Congrats Ms Hall.

Uma boa leitura!