Broken Country is a devastatingly mournful story about how a loss so tremendous can have an avalanche effect on somebody’s life. My partner and I listened to this on our walks, and this compelling love story wrapped in the most addictive thriller quickly made us seek out more walks and opportunities to listen.
Beth, Frank, and Gabriel’s story is a sad but powerful one, highlighting the strength that comes from perseverance, how one mistake can make guilt come alive to eat you from within, and how in the end, love will overcome all.
I can’t believe this was a debut novel, considering the confident tone Claire Leslie Hall maintains the entire time, captivating us with her poetically cozy style that transports you straight to the English countryside, and the expertise she demonstrates in weaving a mystery that unravels at exactly the right time.
Read my full summary, review, and why this hauntingly beautiful cozy romance/thriller should be your next read.
This post contains a full chronological summary of Broken Country by Claire Leslie Hall.
Broken Country
Description
“The farmer is dead. He is dead and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.”
When her brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart all those years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son Bobby, who died a few years earlier.
As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel and Leo’s lives, tensions around the village rise, and jealousy rears its ugly head. Beth and her gentle and kind husband Frank are happily married, but they have their fair share of secrets, and their relationship relies on the past staying buried. And when the truth begins to come out, events spiral out of control, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice—between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.
A sweeping, sexy love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.
Have you read Broken Country?
Have you read Broken Country?
Summary
Broken Country is told in three separate timelines: 1955 (or “Before”), 1968, and a “current timeline” set in late 1968 and beyond.
This summary presents the plot in chronological order to help outline the sequence of events, but I strongly recommend reading the book first, the way the story unfolds across scattered timelines makes for some truly incredible reveals. Please read the book first, you won’t regret it.
That said, I found myself wanting to realign everything in my head afterward, so consider this a linear walkthrough of the plot to help piece things together.
1955: Beth and Gabriel’s Relationship
Beth Johnson is a teenager in 1955 Hempton, England, living in the countryside with her parents, both of whom are teachers. She has an older sister, Eleanor, who is in London training to become a solicitor. Beth attends a Catholic school.
Overall, Beth is very happy. She has a good group of friends, she’s smart, and she enjoys writing poetry. She dreams of becoming a writer one day. Through the school grapevine, Beth hears that Frank Johnson, the older of the farmer brothers at Blakely Farms, has a crush on her and is contemplating asking her out.
One day, Beth trespasses onto the large Meadowlands estate near her village. There, she finds a beautiful boy dressed like an old man, fishing by the lake. He introduces himself as Gabriel Wolfe, the son of the estate’s wealthy owner.
Despite his fussy upbringing, Gabriel yearns to be outdoors and spends his time camping by the lake and fishing.
The two begin bantering immediately, hitting it off from the start. The attraction between them is palpable. Gabriel reveals that he wants to be a writer, too.
They start spending time together, eventually sharing their first kiss, losing their virginity to each other, and becoming a couple. Gabriel, home for the summer from boarding school, wants to escape the demands of his aristocratic family and focus on his writing, while Beth dreams of leaving Hempton behind. When Gabriel’s family leaves town, they spend a full week at Meadowlands, growing even closer, talking about their futures, and falling in love.
Gabriel’s family eventually invites Beth to dinner. His father is a strict but polite aristocrat. His mother, Tess Wolfe, is a bitter woman who stayed in her marriage for Gabriel’s sake. Tess resents her husband but is also deeply entangled in Gabriel’s life. She makes her disapproval of Beth clear and warns her not to get pregnant, saying that someone like Beth will never be good enough for her son.
Beth is shaken by Tess’s harsh words, but continues her relationship with Gabriel despite the seed of doubt Tess plants in her.
She dreams of going to Oxford with Gabriel and applies.
One night, Beth is invited to a dinner party at Meadowlands, where they host an American family. The father is a Hollywood producer who could potentially help Gabriel’s writing career. The family also has a daughter, Louisa, who will be attending Oxford as well. Beth feels immediately threatened by Louisa, further deepening the insecurity she feels about her place in Gabriel’s world.
In the fall, Gabriel leaves Hemston to attend Oxford. Their relationship continues through letters. Beth travels to Oxford for her interview and stays with Gabriel, but something feels off, he hasn’t told anyone that Beth is his girlfriend, and it’s clear he’s hiding her. They go to a party where Beth begins to notice subtle hints that something is wrong. They spend the night together in Gabriel’s room, but the next morning, while he’s at class, Beth reads Gabriel’s diary and discovers that he spent a night with Louisa.
Beth is outraged and heartbroken. Gabriel finds her at the bus stop, and they have a fight, Beth accuses him of cheating and cruelly throws his mother’s words back at him. Gabriel is wounded both by the accusation and by the fact that Beth invaded his privacy. They break up.
Back home, Beth is devastated. She no longer wants to go to Oxford, knowing she’d have to see Gabriel and Louisa. A few weeks later, she realizes she’s pregnant.
During Christmas break, Beth returns to Meadowlands to tell Gabriel about the pregnancy but finds only Tess at home. Once Tess realizes Gabriel doesn’t know, she pays Beth off to keep it a secret and arranges for Beth’s school to expel her discreetly.
After being forced out of school, Beth begins spending time with Frank. She knows he still likes her, and now that Gabriel is out of the picture, she starts to notice him in a new way. Before things get too serious, Beth tells Frank about the pregnancy. He doesn’t care about the baby’s father, he still wants to be with Beth.
Time Between 1955–1968: Frank, Bobby, and Jimmy
Beth and Frank get married at 18. Frank intends to raise Bobby as his own child.
Frank has a younger brother, Jimmy, who has never healed after the loss of their mother. Jimmy struggles with alcohol and is prone to violent outbursts. Frank leaves school to take care of Jimmy and to work on the farm after their mother’s passing. Jimmy loves the farm, and despite being troubled, he works hard and takes pride in it.
Beth’s pregnancy progresses, and when she goes into labor during a storm, Jimmy comes home from the pub and finds her in distress. He ends up delivering her son, Bobby.
Bobby is practically a miracle on the farm. His birth forces Jimmy to grow up, and even brings out a softer side in Frank and Jimmy’s father, who had all but checked out emotionally after his wife died.
By the time Bobby turns three, he’s the center of joy and happiness on the farm, growing up outdoors like the rest of his family.
Meanwhile, Gabriel and Louisa get married. Beth, still not quite over Gabriel despite her pastoral bliss with Frank and Bobby, sneaks onto the church grounds with Bobby and secretly watches the wedding from a distance.
When Bobby turns nine, the oak tree at the center of the farm, the one under which Frank proposed to Beth, and Bobby’s favorite climbing tree, dies. It has to be cut down. Beth, always nervous about farm accidents, asks Frank to be careful. He promises.
But tragedy strikes. As the tree falls, Bobby is beneath it. He is crushed and dies instantly.
1968: Gabriel Returns to Meadowlands with His Son, Leo
In 1968, as Beth, Frank, and Jimmy are working on sheep-related tasks one morning, a dog runs onto the farm and attacks the flock, killing three ewes almost immediately. Jimmy shoots the dog to stop it from killing more livestock.
Moments later, a crying boy runs onto the field after the dog, his father in tow. Beth realizes it’s Gabriel, back at Meadowlands, and the boy is his son, Leo. The boy looks so much like Bobby that Beth can’t help but get involved.
Beth begins spending time with Leo, eventually bringing him a new puppy to train. Gabriel, unaware of Bobby’s existence and having not spoken to Beth since their breakup, asks her to watch over Leo.
Louisa has fallen in love with someone else, leading to her and Gabriel’s separation and leaving Leo confused, caught in the middle of a broken marriage.
Much to Frank’s despair, Beth agrees to watch Leo. She tells Gabriel about Bobby and begins teaching Leo about the outdoors, how to identify birds, how to be present in nature. Beth starts spending more and more time at Meadowlands, eventually sharing wine with Gabriel after hours.
Beth and Frank have never truly healed after Bobby’s death. The two have drifted apart, Beth grieving deeply, Frank unable to stop blaming himself.
Jimmy, meanwhile, has a girlfriend named Nina, who works at the bar. They get engaged and eventually married.
On the night of Jimmy and Nina’s wedding, Gabriel approaches Beth and tells her he never cheated on her, and that he’s in love with her. The two begin an affair, picking up where they left off years ago.
Beth begins spending her days at Meadowlands, much of that time spent in bed with Gabriel. Frank grows more distant, grief continuing to consume him. Though he senses what’s happening between Beth and Gabriel, he never confronts them.
1968: The Shooting
One night, Beth returns from Meadowlands to find the remains of the old oak tree on fire, Frank standing in front of it, desolate and silent. She’s distraught, worried about the birds who lived there, a clear metaphor for Bobby and what’s left of their marriage. Frank quietly says, “It’s over, isn’t it?” and tells Beth she should do what makes her happy.
Jimmy finds out about Beth’s affair with Gabriel. He loses it, his one semblance of stability disintegrating. He goes on a binge, drinking for hours on end.
When Frank can’t find Jimmy, he tells Beth that Jimmy’s rambling, not making any sense, and has made threats against Gabriel’s life. Beth, worried, rushes to Meadowlands to warn Gabriel.
Gabriel tries to calm Beth down, but Leo overhears the conversation and panics. Suddenly, Jimmy arrives, drunk, screaming, with a gun. He fires a shot through a window.
Beth and Leo hide under a table, terrified, while Gabriel tries to deescalate the situation. Eventually, Gabriel manages to calm Jimmy by telling him the affair is over and offering to drive him back to the farm. Jimmy agrees, but only if Beth comes too.
As they prepare to leave, Leo, still shaken, refuses to stay behind and insists on coming with them.
Back at the farm, Frank immediately steps in to take care of a now-calmed Jimmy and thanks Gabriel for bringing his brother home.
That moment of gratitude triggers Jimmy back into a rage. He turns on Gabriel and begins choking him.
Leo, in a panic, grabs the shotgun left in the car and shoots Jimmy to protect his father.
Jimmy dies.
Broken Country Ending Explained
Where did you hear about this book?
Where did you hear about this book?
After Jimmy’s death, Frank decides to take the blame to protect Leo’s future. The adults lie about what really happened that night.
Frank is charged with both murder and manslaughter. The trial becomes a media spectacle, with many witnesses taking the stand. The prosecution argues that Frank snapped after years of dealing with his troubled brother. The defense maintains it was a case of self-defense.
In the time leading up to the trial, Beth ends things with Gabriel, and she and Frank begin working on rebuilding their relationship. Meanwhile, Leo is deeply affected by what he’s done, suffering from nightmares and emotional trauma. Frank breaks his bail conditions to visit Leo, offering comfort, before returning to prison.
The jury finds Frank guilty of manslaughter, but not murder, and he is sentenced to eight years in prison.
After the verdict, Gabriel visits the farm to talk to Beth, desperate to understand why Frank took the fall. Beth finally confesses: Bobby was Gabriel’s son. Frank carried the guilt of not being able to save Bobby, and in his eyes, taking the blame for Leo was a way to finally save a son, even if he wasn’t his own.
Gabriel is devastated by the revelation. They argue, and Gabriel leaves, shattered.
Beth turns her focus to the farm. With her parents helping, she continues running it in Frank’s absence. Though Frank refuses to let Beth visit him in prison, her father does, and keeps him updated on the farm. Gabriel and Leo begin visiting Frank weekly, building a bond and offering quiet support.
Beth then discovers she’s pregnant, with Frank’s child. When she shares the news, Frank is overjoyed. They name their daughter Grace.
Gabriel and Leo eventually move to America, but they continue sending gifts to Beth and Grace.
By the time Grace turns five, she’s become the heart of the farm, just like Bobby once was. She talks to the ewes, plays in the fields, and embodies the joy that once felt lost.
In the final scene, Frank returns home. He sees his daughter for the first time. The three of them, Beth, Frank, and Grace, share an embrace. Frank, finally healing from his grief. Beth, ready for a new chapter. And Grace, meeting the father she’s only known through stories.
Characters
Beth Johnson
The protagonist of Broken Country. Beth Johnson is married to her farmer husband, Frank Johnson, and lives on Blakely Farm. Beth once dated Gabriel Wolfe, the handsome, wealthy aristocrat from the Meadowlands estate, but they broke up years ago. Beth and Frank had a son named Bobby, who passed away at the age of nine, leaving a lasting wound on their family.
Frank Johnson
Beth’s husband. Frank has loved Beth since he was thirteen. He runs Blakely Farm with her and is deeply consumed by grief after the loss of their son. Frank works tirelessly to take care of the farm and his family, including his troubled younger brother, Jimmy, whom he stepped in to raise after their mother died.
Gabriel Wolfe
Gabriel is a prolific writer and Beth’s sweetheart from when they were teenagers. His wife left him for another man, and he has a son with her, Leo. Gabriel moved back to Meadowlands after his separation from his wife.
Bobby Johson
Frank and Beth’s nine-year-old boy. Bobby loved the outdoors and was one with nature. He died in a farm accident when he was nine.
Jimmy Johnson
Frank’s younger brother. Jimmy has never healed from the loss of their mother, turning to violence and alcohol. He’s volatile, prone to tantrums and outbursts. He works on the farm with Beth and Frank and is a natural with the ewes. Jimmy is dating Nina, the local bartender.
Leo Wolfe
Gabriel and Louisa’s son. Leo moves back to Meadowlands with Gabriel and begins spending time with Beth, since his father is often too busy. He slowly starts learning about Bobby and life on the farm.
Review
Overall Impressions ⭐️
I am UNWELL after finishing this book. I feel bruised all over, in the best way possible. Beth, Frank, and Gabriel’s story had my heart in a chokehold for days as we made our way through this novel. Their love, hate, grief, and desperation seep off the page and settle in your bones.
I went in with zero expectations, honestly, I just picked one of the most anticipated new releases off a list, and I got emotionally obliterated in return.
Halfway through, I was so engrossed I looked up the author, and I was shocked to learn this was her debut novel. If this is where Claire Leslie Hall is starting, I cannot wait to see where she goes next. This was the perfect combination of romance and thriller for me, quiet, aching, and tense in all the right ways.
It’s only April, but I already know this book is going on my Top Books of 2025 Year list. There’s no way I’ll forget it.
Characters 👥
I connected with Beth on a deeper level than I can even describe. As a woman wrecked by grief, her constant state of agony and sadness was palpable through the pages. Her choices made sense to me, both the good ones and the messy, devastating ones. She was a woman with a wound that wouldn’t stop bleeding, and she was willing to do anything she could to stop it.
But the real hero of this book, for me, was Frank. This wasn’t even a traditional romance book, but Frank is up there as one of my top fictional men of 2025. He’s loyal, compassionate, and kind. He’s carried a quiet torch for Beth since he was thirteen years old, and when she finds out she’s pregnant with another man’s baby (which, let’s face it, is scandalous for the 1960s), he doesn’t even blink. Even though he wasn’t the primary character, you can see the guilt and grief eating him alive.
I wasn’t surprised when Frank went to prison for Leo. Frank wanted to be punished for the role he believed he played in his son’s death. And I get that. I understand the demand for absolution, the need to feel like you’ve paid for something, even if the guilt is mostly self-inflicted. But I also understood why he did it.
The side characters as foils to the main characters were handled so well, they weren’t just tossed into the mix for drama. Gabriel was the first breath of fresh air Beth took after Bobby’s death, a reminder of a time when she didn’t carry this pain. Leo became a living reflection of the child she lost, which made her bond with him feel inevitable and heartbreaking. Jimmy was the chaotic, grief-stricken catalyst that Beth and Frank always had to steady themselves against. And even Tess, while bordering on the cliché of the cold aristocratic mother, was used tastefully, her presence just enough to spark the initial rift between Beth and Gabriel.
Plot & Pacing 🎭
The plot opens at the height of the story, with the trial, like many thrillers tend to do. I was initially jarred by the jumping timelines, especially because Clare Leslie Hall chooses to title chapters by dates, which can sometimes be hard to follow. But ultimately, I think it was a well-chosen literary device that worked. That said, I definitely had to realign the events in my head at the end to fully make sense of everything.
My one gripe, and it’s a small one, is that the main breaking point between Gabriel and Beth hinges on miscommunication. It happens to be one of the tropes that really icks me. But for me, the core of the story was never really about Gabriel and Beth falling apart, it was always about Beth and Frank finding their way back to each other.
Which brings me to my next point… the surprises, which are the backbone of the thriller genre, were executed so well.
I caught on to the identity of the killer pretty early, mostly based on what the author wasn’t telling us, a clever bit of omission. But I was genuinely shocked to learn the truth about Bobby’s father.
Even more surprising? That Beth chose to stay with Frank, and that Frank stayed with her. You read so many stories about couples not making it after the death of a child. But this? This was a glimmer of brightness at the heart of such a sad, haunting book, Beth and Frank healed with one another against all odds.
Writing Style ✍️
Claire Leslie Hall’s writing in this book is poetic and magical. The English countryside setting is already cozy on its own, but she wraps you in a blanket of warm summer nights and the still waters of late July, and you just want to keep sinking deeper into it. And honestly? We needed that warm blanket, because it’s devastating to watch these characters work through their grief and impossible choices.
But I 100% believe that my experience and immersion were elevated by the narrator, Hattie Morahan. She brings the coziness up to a 10, and she does such a phenomenal job bringing Beth’s voice to life. She’s officially one of my favorite narrators now.
After finishing the story, I immediately looked up both Claire Leslie Hall and Hattie Morahan to see what else they’ve done. I was shocked to discover this is Hall’s debut novel, and that Morahan doesn’t narrate anything that’s not already wildly popular. The talent is unreal.
Themes & Messages 🧠
There is one main theme in this book, grief, and the choices we make in the aftermath of loss.
I don’t want to argue the morality of any of those choices, and the book never asks us to. What it does is bring the grief of such a tragedy to life in a way that feels real, complicated, and deeply human.
A lot of the time, when the characters made decisions, especially the messier ones, I found myself thinking, “Well… I can’t blame them for that.” And that’s what this book does so well. It doesn’t justify, it doesn’t condemn, it just sits with the ache and lets the characters figure out how to survive it.
Recommendation 🛒
Escape to the English countryside with this quiet, powerful romantic thriller. A story of love, loss, and the secrets we carry. 🌳🍂
I recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Whether you’re a devoted thriller fan, romance reader, or a vibe reader of all genres, I think this book should be at the top of your TBR. I also truly believe it should be read in audio format if that’s something you like doing, the narration is impeccable and takes the book to a whole new level.
You might want to skip this if you don’t want to read about characters dealing with profound grief. While the accident is not at the center of it, it does get discussed, and I can imagine it could be hard for some readers. I was also a bit taken aback reading about the death of Leo’s dog that kicks off the book, but… I went in truly blind, so that’s on me. (That part is, after all, on the back of the book.)
And obviously, there is cheating in this book, so if that’s a trigger, you might want to skip it too.
Although I think this book explores grief and choices so well, wrapped in a thriller romance, that I think everyone should give it a shot and decide for themselves.
This was an incredible, unforgettable read.
Broken Country reminded me that healing isn’t always tidy, and sometimes, love and loss live side by side. This one will stay with me for a long, long time.
Have you read Broken Country? Let me know what you thought in the comments, I’d love to hear your take.
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