Broken Country
Broken Country Book Review by Clare Leslie Hall
Broken Country—nah, more like broken brain.
This book was so terrible I have a hard time wrapping my mind around it. The plethora of 5 star reviews still befuddle me. Are people being bribed? Are there two different versions of this book? Am I living in an alternate reality? Can Reese Witherspoon read?
I’m genuinely considering all of these questions.
Broken Country is a recently published novel from British author Clare Leslie Hall. It focuses on Beth, her life on the farm, her marriage to Frank, and her simple living out in the English countryside.
That all gets torn inside out when Gabriel, her love from when she was sixteen-years-old, moves back to town, recently divorced and the sole guardian of his son, Leo.
Beth is now confronted with her current life and all that it entails and her past love coming together. She must choose what man—and what fate—she wants for herself.
God, this book was so horrific. I don’t read a ton of books about infidelity and found the premise interesting, along with how many people seem to love this book and how it was chosen for Reese Witherspoon’s recent book club pick.
None of that mattered in the face of poor writing, abysmal pacing, and incomplete characters that felt as filled out as silhouettes.
I’m still delving into adult literature as a genre (I spent years primarily reading YA) and have been enjoying reading about characters in their 20’s, 30’s, and even 40’s dealing with adult problems like failing marriages, children, and loss.
However, Broken Country reminded me that just because it’s an adult book with a mature premise does not make it sophisticated or worth reading about.
First, all the characters in this book are total trash. Beth is selfish, impulsive, and lacks any sort of moral integrity. Because she lost her son Bobby, Clare Leslie Hall expects us to forgive Beth for starting an affair, cheating on her husband, and genuinely ruining the lives of everyone around her.
I’m sorry, but what?
Beth sucked and had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I have no idea why the two men in her life—Gabriel and Frank—liked her in any sort of capacity.
Which brings me to the next point: the love triangle was unfathomable. Because Beth was a total waste of space, two men vying for her attention and loving her unconditionally was ludicrous.
They lacked any kind of character traits other than being a hot farmer and bad boy writer. The fact that even after Beth’s infidelity is discovered and both men still love, respect, and want to be with her, offers no consequences for the character’s actions and cheapens the book overall.
In addition to the characters, or lack thereof, the pacing of this book was horribly executed. Clare Leslie Hall left out so many obviously important moments that it was strikingly bizarre to me.
For example, she would start a phone call and then abruptly transition to someone summarizing the phone call to then moving on to the next event.
Why even include the details about someone calling if you’re not going to show the conversation? Another character asking about the call and then summarizing it takes just as much time as the call itself.
It’s a classic example of show-not-tell, something Clare Leslie Hall has apparently never heard of. She would spend paragraphs telling the reader how the affair was progressing and how characters were feeling.
Show me.
It was so boring to read a synopsis about the affair occurring and spiraling further out of control instead of letting me read about it and gleaning it for myself.
I have nothing good to say about this book other than that you want to finish it out of slight morbid curiosity to see how it all blows up in her face and to be done with it.
Recommendation: I love Elle Woods as much as the next person, but Reese Witherspoon cannot be trusted. Do not read this book.
Score: 2/10
