Book Review: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

The hype surrounding the release of Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall was significant; it sold rights in 30 separate countries, and was chosen to be the next Reese Witherspoon book club pick with a movie deal already in the works. I’ve never been ashamed to say I follow this celebrity’s book choices closely – Witherspoon and her team have great taste, and this novel is yet another example of that. Clare Leslie Hall is the penname for Clare Empson, who has only published in the UK prior to this breakout book. If any of my readers across the pond have read her other books , please let me know what you thought of her writing in the comments, I’m curious how her first North American release stacks up against her backlist.

Plot Summary

Beth and Frank live a quiet life in the English countryside as lamb farmers. They are still healing from a family tragedy a few years prior, when their only child Bobby died suddently. But the book begins with an unexpected scene; a man has convinced Beth to lie about what went on in their house, and is now standing trial for a crime she knows the truth about. The plot then returns from this short flash forward to Beth’s present day, when she learns an old friend and lover has returned to their village; wealthy and celebrated novelist Gabriel. Her husband Frank is well aware of their past together, and is understandably jealous of their previous connection, but it’s not until Beth begins to babysit Gabriel’s son Leo, who is only a few years younger than Bobby would have been had he survived, that Frank begins to worry. Beth’s grateful to Frank for stepping in when Gabriel broke her heart those many years ago, and is fiercely loyal to her husband, but she can’t help but ignore the tug of feelings that Gabriel’s return elicits in her. Divorced himself, Beth fits neatly into Gabriel’s new life as a single father, which is all too convenient. As we witness the consequences of this developing relationship, the author offers short flash forwards to this murder trial to warn the reader of the dire events to come. Although not quite a thriller, there are life and death situations that play out in this novel, and surprisingly a fairly romantic thread also runs throughout, examining the power of first loves, and the sacrifices one makes for those closest to them.

My Thoughts

Dishonesty is a big theme in this novel, and it’s those we identify most with that are the liars. It’s an impressive feat of characterization when the author has developed a protagonist that behaves in a way most would identify as wrong, and yet we care about them anyway. How far does guilt push a person? What is one willing to put up with to appease a sense of guilt? How does grief and passion intercept one another? These big questions are explored at depth in this book, as the life in which Beth and Frank have created with one another are pushed and pulled from outside forces. Although depicted as a very simple woman with simple tastes, Beth has been lucky enough to be loved wholly and completely by two different men, both of these relationships coming across as genuine, and full of passion. Perhaps this is the only unrealistic thing about this book – the belief that one woman can experience these two great loves all before the age of 30, all within a few square miles of her small village. It may be unrealistic, but who cares? It’s a novel that one can’t help but tear through the plotting is so good. I was so engaged by the story that I never once stopped to mark down a turn of phrase, or piece of dialogue that I really liked, I just burned through the short chapters.

We never hear directly from the men in Beth’s life because the entire book is told from her perspective. Most of the writing isn’t focused on their emotions or actions either, it’s a very introspective novel that follows Beth’s desires most closely, yet never getting so bogged down in her head that the writing lags. The order in which events are revealed to the reader is what keeps up the suspense but not in a frustrating way. Many of us (myself included) are annoyed by the proliferation of ‘that day’ plotting in thrillers, when authors delay the ultimate reveal of what happened one fateful day to the end of the book but use the protagonists’ recollections to drop clues along the way. Leslie Hall’s plotting does not feel this forced, instead there are smaller events that are slowly revealed to us in both the past and future so it comes across as her writing style, rather than an artificial plotting mechanism.

This book feels too dark to recommend as the perfect beach read, as sadness and death a big part of Beth and Frank’s life. However, if you do want a book that’s going to keep your attention and dull the roar of the outside world for awhile, you’ll want to pick this one up.