Author: Clare Leslie Hall
Reviewed by Chloe Fuksa
Rating: 5/5 stars
Author Clare Leslie Hall’s debut novel, Broken Country, came out in early March to great acclaim: picked for Reese’s Book Club, reviewed by notable fellow authors, and drawing comparisons to Where the Crawdads Sing. I’ve seen some much-hyped flops in my day though, so I wanted to see for myself if the praise was justified.
Beth and Frank Johnson live in a small village in England, raising sheep and cattle and growing corn. When Gabriel Wolfe moves back into his childhood home nearby, the Johnsons’ steady life is upended. Beth and Gabriel had a whirlwind summer romance when they were teenagers, and their feelings for one another never quite went away. Now, Beth finds herself spending more and more time with Gabriel and his son, Leo, and allowing herself to wonder what life would have been like if she had chosen differently. Frank, though, is so kind and selfless – how can she leave that? The love triangle between Beth and the two men can only end in pain – fatally so, in this case.
I’ve found that often with debut novels, authors can try to do too much. They want their book to stand out, and they end up throwing the kitchen sink in. I think Broken Country skirts that trap but manages to not quite fall in. It’s a literary novel with two timelines, but it also has a murder trial interspersed throughout. It felt like there were a lot of different elements, but it worked. It is this beautifully complex story with characters and emotions that are written exceptionally well. It tackles so many heavy topics, but with the chapters being surprisingly short, the story doesn’t get bogged down. I was really quite impressed with this book, so my verdict: yes, it certainly lives up to the hype and is well deserving of the praise it’s getting.
Visit us in Sunset Plaza or call 580-297-5089 to get your copy of Broken Country today!
