What happens when the love of your life appears after thirteen years, but you are married and still grieving the death of your child?

In 1955, Beth and Gabriel had an intense relationship that ended up broken because she found out he was with another woman.

in 1968, Gabriel and his son move back into the family home next door to Beth and Frank, and the feelings resurface.

Beth finds it difficult to resist seeing and being with Gabriel. Her husband Frank isn't blind to what is going through Beth's mind.

He can see how they react to each other.

What will happen with this love triangle and with all the events that occur?

This actually isn't a romance - this dual timeline read is filled with emotion, characters you won't forget, and events that will tug at your heartstrings.

The book was a bit slow at first, but the writing, the pull of the characters and their lives, and the tension, twists, and surprises make this book one you will not soon forget.

Tissues needed - especially in the ending pages. 5/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of the book. All opinions are my own.

I thought it was very good. Hard to put down when I first started. Definitely keeps you flipping the pages.

It quickly became my favorite book.

Broken Country, Clare Leslie Hall, author; Hattie Morahan, Narrator
This is the story of Beth Kennedy and Frank Johnson. They were in love and had found an idyllic lifestyle on the Blakely Farm. Frank’s mother had died in a farm accident when her son Jimmy was very young. Frank had stepped in and totally devoted himself to bringing up his brother. He lived with them on the farm. Beth loved him too. When Beth went into labor during a ferocious storm, which cut her off from help, Jimmy arrived home from school just in time. Although, just a teenager, he immediately helped her birth her son. He had already assisted with the births of many animals on the farm and was not at all upset by the experience. He was mature and capable and saved the day. At other times, though, Jimmy loved his drink too much. He became erratic and was a handful when he was under the influence. Still, the baby, Bobby, became the light of every Johnson’s life. Even grandfather David, who was normally very distant, was smitten by Bobby’s presence. Everything seemed perfect! Then Bobby died in a tragic accident on the farm, and Beth blamed Frank for not watching him closely enough.
Beth and Frank’s relationship began to suffer, especially when Gabriel, her former lover, and now a successful novelist, returned. His young son, Leo, and his dog, returned with him. When the dog got loose, it attacked the newborn lambs on the farm. Frank shot the dog to save the rest of the sheep. Leo was beside himself with grief. Frank and Beth comforted the boy. Although Frank and Gabriel were “enemies”, for obvious reasons, he accepted the idea of Beth helping Gabriel out by tending to his son Leo for a few hours a day. This helped Gabriel work on his writing and also helped Beth work through her own grief over losing Bobby. Unfortunately, it also rekindled her relationship with Gabriel.
In the past, when Beth had been a teenager, before she had met Frank, she and Gabriel Wolfe had been an item. He lived in a magisterial home called Meadowlands. He wanted to be an author and would be going off to Oxford. Beth, who hoped to be a poet, was going to apply to Oxford, as well. Gabriel’s mother, Tessa, did not approve of Beth, since she was not from their social class. She would try and manipulate the situation to insure their separation. Beth had done something she should not have, however. She had read Gabriel’s diary and that had made her suspicious. It infuriated him when she told him. However, it had made her worry that Gabriel was being unfaithful and wanted to break up with her. Instead of discussing her fear, she simply accused him of what she had feared. He was young, and he was so insulted and enraged by the next words they exchanged, that the argument ended their relationship. This was the foreshadowing of many more misunderstandings to come.
Beth and Gabriel were now thrown together and soon began an affair. Her schedule with Leo enabled it. When Beth’s infidelity was discovered, she was the talk of the town. Her brother-in-law Jimmy and his wife Nina were horrified. They couldn’t believe her betrayal. Tongues were wagging. Jimmy was beside himself with rage. Frank, on the other hand, in his inimitable unselfish way, was trying hard to understand what was happening, without getting angry. He even seemed willing to let them be together. The family was being torn apart because of Beth’s foolish choices. Then, shortly after this discovery of infidelity, Jimmy was killed and his brother Frank was on trial for his murder. Jimmy’s wife Nina, once Beth’s close friend, turned her back on all of them. Was Frank guilty? During the trial, it was obvious that the performance of the lawyers seemed to be more important than establishing the truth. The best actor would win. The verdict shocked them all. Was justice done? Time passes and another child is born. Beth has a daughter called Grace. Grace would not meet her father for many years. When she finally met him, did her reaction seem credible?
Beth tended to make so many impetuous choices without thinking them through and thus was responsible for bringing about much of the confusion, chaos and further tragedy into all of their lives. Would she be forgiven or even liked as a character? Here secrets upended their lives. How would they all fare in the future? Leo had witnessed too much trauma. Nina, only newly married, was suddenly a widow. This story about deep friendship and passionate love, devotion and loyalty, loss and grief, betrayal and redemption, secrets and lies, is ultimately also about sacrifice, sacrifice that was not always rewarded and was often punished. Gratitude was not the strong point of some, nor was kindness or compassion.
Some of the characters’ behavior was so disappointing. In the end, I felt that no good deed went unpunished and there was retribution when I had hoped for justice. The conclusion stretched credibility for me and I had to suspend disbelief. Broken country is about broken relationships, broken marriages, broken promises, broken hearts, broken people and broken spirits. After the loss of a child can a marriage survive? After infidelity, is forgiveness really possible? Is blame the only response to grief? Beth wanted to return to a time before life’s chaos broke her, but can you ever truly go back? Can Humpty Dumpty be repaired? This story began with the death of a beloved dog, but it ended with the death of a troubled and beloved man. Would life go on?