Leslie Hall Clare: Broken Country [2026]

*****AMAZON'S BOOK OF THE YEAR *****
INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
REESE WITHERSPOON'S BOOK CLUB PICK
FEARNE COTTON'S HAPPY PLACE BOOK CLUB PICK

'An unforgettable story of love, loss, and the choices that shape our lives . . . but it's also a masterfully crafted mystery that will keep you guessing until the very last page. Seriously, that ending?! I did not see it coming'
REESE WITHERSPOON

'This story of a love affair is so addictive it could be at home with the thrillers . . . A simmering book of secrets, scandal and devastating consequences' The i

'I defy you not to be in tears by the end of this book' HARRIET TYCE, author of Witch Trial

'Excellent . . . a vivid, forceful love story which plays out at the pace of a thriller' Irish Times

'In this surprising romantic novel, there are decisions to be made that are heartbreaking and real, yet amid the gentle pastoral setting . . . it has all the pace of a literary thriller. A dazzling debut' Woman and Home

'Beautiful . . . So moving on the subject of how a tiny decision can have cataclysmic consequences' Good Housekeeping

Everyone in the village said nothing good would come of Gabriel's return. And as Beth looks at the man she loves on trial for murder, she can't help thinking they were right.

Beth was seventeen when she first met Gabriel. Over that heady, intense summer, he made her think and feel and see differently. She thought it was the start of her great love story. When Gabriel left to become the person his mother expected him to be, she was broken.

It was Frank who picked up the pieces and together they built a home very different from the one she'd imagined with Gabriel. Watching her husband and son, she remembered feeling so sure that, after everything, this was the life she was supposed to be leading.

But when Gabriel comes back, all Beth's certainty about who she is and what she wants crumbles. Even after ten years, their connection is instant. She knows it's wrong and she knows people could get hurt. But how can she resist a second chance at first love?

A love story with the pulse of a thriller, Broken Country is a heart-pounding novel of impossible choices and devastating consequences.

'Lyrical, brutal and passionate. I devoured it'
MIRANDA COWLEY HELLER, author of The Paper Palace

'Evocative, sensitive and compelling . . . Fires directly at the heart and hits the mark'
DELIA OWENS, author of Where the Crawdads Sing

'Broke my heart then mended it again. An epic, tortured love story. Bring tissues'
JENNIE GODFREY, author of The List of Suspicious Things

'I stayed up until 4am to finish it, something I haven't done in years. It's a page-turner, but also beautifully written'
FLORENCE KNAPP, author of The Names

'A love story like no other'
CHRIS WHITAKER, author of All the Colours of the Dark

READERS LOVE BROKEN COUNTRY
'This book is everything. Love, heartbreak and hope'
'Will break you into pieces and then put you back together again'
'I was absolutely gripped and didn't want it to end'
'If I could give more than five stars, I would. Perfect'