Author:Clare Leslie Hall
Publisher:Simon and Schuster
ISBN:9781668078181
AnEnglish farmwife must face her past when her first love returns totown. As she grapples with what she has now and what could have been,she’s torn between the memories of youth and her steady, quiethusband. Author Clare Leslie Hall brings to life the happenings of asmall town in vibrant descriptions of the English countryside with aplot that is only so-so in her latest book BrokenCountry.
Inthe small British town of Hemston, Beth Johnson is happy as afarmwife. Well, mostly happy. She and her husband, Frank, lost theironly son in a terrible accident a few years earlier, and they’restill coping with their grief. They have each other, though, andFrank’s younger brother, Jimmy, who is devoted to their littlefamily. An imminent engagement for Jimmy with his longtimegirlfriend, Nina, promises to bring happiness to the Johnson farmonce again.
ThenGabriel Wolfe moves back to the village, and for Beth it seems liketime has folded in on itself. When she was a young woman, she andGabriel met on the expansive grounds of his family’s palatial home.For one blissful summer, they were everything to each other. ThenGabriel went to Oxford, and everything changed.
Gabriel’smother didn’t approve of Beth at all, but Beth truly believed thelove she shared with Gabriel would stand strong against all of thenaysayers. She didn’t know her love would be tested by themselves.After a falling out, Beth vowed to turn her back on the entire Wolfefamily. Frank, in love with her from the time they were kids, quietlystepped into the role of Beth’s companion, and she eventually foundlove with him.
Butnow Gabriel’s back, and everything is muddled again. Worse, he’sbrought his young son, Leo, who would have been about the same age asBeth and Frank’s son had he lived. Despite knowing it’s aterrible idea, Beth finds herself taking Leo under her wing andteaching him everything she once taught her own boy. That doing sogives her an opportunity to be near Gabriel once again doesn’tescape her, and before either of them knows what’s happening theyfind their way back into one another’s arms.
Bethis beside herself with guilt but also relief. She and Gabriel workthrough the misunderstanding from years before, but findingresolution for that only brings more complications into their lives.Beth is still married to Frank and still loves him. Frank was hersupport through trying times, and Beth knows it would be wrong to endtheir relationship. But Gabriel had her heart first, and as shecontinues to spend time with him she realizes he’ll carry a pieceof it forever.
AuthorClare Leslie Hall sets up her book with a nonlinear timeline thatdoesn’t add much to the overall story. The novel opens at the startof a murder trial, but Hall takes her time revealing who’s accusedof the crime and who died. Instead, she alternates moments in thetrial with two other stories—the first of Beth and Gabriel in theearly days of their first romance and the second of the time in theyear leading up to the murder. All three stories converge eventually,but the writing device feels a little unnecessary.
Alsounnecessary is the nonlinear timeline. Hall writes of small-townEngland with a practiced hand, and Beth and Gabriel’s romance fromtheir early days is compelling. The periodic interruptions to go backto the trial and to the year leading up to it don’t build suspense;instead, they feel more disruptive than anything else.
Inthe end, more discerning readers may find themselves frustrated byBeth as a protagonist. She essentially starts and ends the book inthe same place. Even though she expresses guilt at her infidelity,after a while those feelings start to feel hollow. Beth reiteratesfor readers just how much Frank is devoted to her, and Hall shows himto be so in scene after scene. It’s somewhat baffling then just whyBeth would repeatedly run to Gabriel.
Frank’spassivity, while explained later in the book, might make some readersimpatient for a while. The reason doesn’t feel quite strong enoughto justify it. Also, marketing materials make it seem like explosiveinformation is forthcoming, but the description is greatlyexaggerated.
Thebook tries too hard to be a mystery and a romance all rolled intoone. Readers who appreciate lovely descriptions of small towns mightwant to check this out. Otherwise I recommend they BorrowBrokenCountrybyClare Leslie Hall.