Broken Country
Clare Leslie Hall
Simon & Shuster, 2025
Broken Country is a historical fiction novel rooted in love, loss and sacrifice.
The novel takes place primarily between 1955 and 1968 and is set in a farming village in Dorset, England. Clare Leslie Hall vividly captures this beautiful countryside atmosphere, using strong sensory imagery that transports the reader into the story. While the plot and characters were deeply intriguing, I found myself wanting to continue reading purely because of this setting.
The novel switches between a past timeline and two present chronologies, one of which follows a murder trial that begins vaguely to captivate the reader until the very last plot twist. Though this concurrent form of storytelling can often feel confusing, Hall clearly differentiates the three plots and answers all the questions readers begin to ask themselves throughout the novel.
Hall crafts our protagonist, Beth, as a flawed but lovable character, allowing readers to sympathise with her even when she makes questionable or immoral decisions. Beth’s past timeline follows her growing up within the constraints of a patriarchal society, as she falls in love for the first time and dreams of becoming a writer.
As we continue down her life path, we see her experiences with heartbreak, relearning how to love, and finally, dealing with potent grief that is a key theme of the novel. Though I typically resent a love triangle trope, it worked well in this plot as a refreshing break from the intensity of the loss these characters experienced.
To encapsulate the 1960s, Hall references key authors and musicians from this time period, which add to the overall atmosphere of the novel.
Ultimately, I thoroughly enjoyed Hall’s writing style and the way she blends romance, thriller, and historical genres together. Broken Country made me weep, laugh, and smile all within a couple of chapters – a trilogy of emotions that only the strongest of writers can evoke.
