Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall (2025)
Double wow to this one. It's been so long since I've picked up a book like this - an epic passionate love triangle playing out over decades and finishing in the most dramatic, most emotional and twist filled way possible. And with a heartrending wrap-up that unabashedly wrings tears out of you without mercy. Yep, it's that kind of book and guaranteed to make you take deep breaths when you finally put it down.
The triangle I speak of unfolds in a small English farming community. Teenage farm girl Beth falls into a white hot first love with fellow teen Gabriel, the handsome scion of a fabulously wealthy family whose vast estate sits in the same rural countryside. To the delight of Gabriel's imperious mother,, the affair collapses as Gabriel moves on to study at Oxford with a new girl of his own social standing. A heartbroken Beth settles for comfort, solace and security in marriage to Frank, the young sheep farmer who's loved her since childhood.
Years later, Gabriel's moved back to his family's rural estate, now a divorced single dad to his 9 year old son Leo, Beth can't help being drawn back to him - not just because of reignited sparks of their adolescent passion, but because Leo painfully reminds her of her and Frank's late young son Bobby, whose tragic death haunts her every waking hour.
From this point on, 'Broken Country' takes readers on a full speed ahead emotional ride that comes crashing down on its main characters like an avalanche. And you'll hear no more details about it from me. You simply have to read it and let the book pummel you with incredible turns of events and astonishing twists..... and then mops up what's left of you with its heart hammering final pages.
Mark this one down as a 2025 must read. 5 stars (*****)
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