Beth was very immature and self-centered in many ways and sure took a VERY VERY long time to grow up and have more emotional maturity. Yes, in many ways, it was an easy read and a page turner but the people were such caricatures. The step mother of Gabe was very self-centered and evil. The father of Gabe didn’t really have much of a role, other than to be sad. Frank was just a doormat saint and maybe not the brightest bulb. The alcoholic brother, the new wife/widow with heart of gold.
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But I liked the dogs. And the sheep.
I found it interesting that after Frank went to prison the farm became so much more than it had been under Frank.
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Random thoughts as I respond to the discussion:
I plan to join @jerseysouthmomchess in the minority section. I give it more of a 
than a 
That said I don’t disagree with many of the faults mentioned.
So on to my random thoughts:
I too recently finished The Correspondent and hesitated to spend more time enmeshed in grief over the accidental death of a young boy. It strikes me that even more similarities between the two books exist. I don’t want to list similarities since this thread isn’t meant to contrast and compare the two books. I don’t want spoilers to ruin The Correspondent for others. I can’t resist mentioning, however, that the women in both books have men fall-head-over-heels for them. What the heck? Like others, I don’t completely understand why for Beth (or the protagonist in The Correspondent).
One thing no-one mentioned that bothered me as I read. Beth kept describing her marriage with Frank as being all that and more. My skepticism crept ever upward. Who exactly was she trying to convince? Herself? Frank? Family? All of the above?
So Beth and Gabriel split up and then get back together. I know more than one couple who separated during the college years and then end up together later, including one couple marrying 50 or so years later. With Beth and Gabriel, even though the attraction remained, I’m not sure Beth would have acted on it if Bobby had lived. The fracture in her marriage had yet to heal and made her more vulnerable. Do I approve? Nope, not even the littlest bit. I do think that Leo was her tipping point. If it had just been Gabriel back in town, I don’t think the attraction would have progressed.
To be continued.
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Beth was restless, searching for something Frank couldn’t provide. A little restraint would have gone a long way, but she didn’t possess that.
There is an old (2011) movie called “Take This Waltz”, where a loving wife, married to a good man, has a steamy affair because something is lacking in her life. After everything comes crashing down, her sister-in-law admonishes her, “In the big picture, life has a gap in it; it just does. You don’t go crazy trying to fill it like some lunatic.”
That’s what I wanted to say to Beth.
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LOL, so did I! However, Grace was a very welcome and positive addition to the storyline, and brought some normalcy to this traumatized family.
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As I mentioned when the book was announced last thread, I’d just finished it because I’d seen several recommendations elsewhere and was interested to see if others agreed with my opinion. And I see that many did. I was thumb sideways. Maybe a 3 out of 5 stars. It kept me reading but I didn’t find the characters, their relationships and actions complex enough to be realistic, and in several cases they were just annoying.
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Random thoughts continued:
I knew from the start that Bobby is Gabriel’s son but never guessed that Leo killed Jimmy. I figured Beth pulled the trigger to protect Frank. And this is where the book lost me. It would have been healthier for Leo not to have the crime covered up/not to have Frank take the blame. The child knew what he had done. To me it just makes matters worse and I find it hard to believe that the truth didn’t come out.
Speaking of guns: the dog’s death that introduced Leo/the birthday party with airgun practice (not good)/Jimmy’s loss of control while armed (someone was going to get hurt) - all add up to a lot of gunplay. Had I figured out it was Jimmy who’d died? Yes, despite the fact that the book talked of the “farmer’s death” at the beginning - one of the little ways to build suspense.
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Definitely, on both counts! Asking Leo to lie – as if he has to cover up an intentional homicide, rather than explain an accident – just compounds the PTSD he is going to have in later life. The truth would have set everybody free – literally.
I know the book is not a police procedural, but it is part courtroom drama. Leo would certainly have been gently interviewed and I can’t believe that timid soul wouldn’t have cracked.
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This is how I feel, too, and I gave the book three stars on Goodreads. That said, the “it kept me reading” part is important to me. I would read another book by Clare Leslie Hall, which I can’t say about some of my other 3-star reads.
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Ok—I can see this book as a 3, but not as a 5 and definitely not a movie I’d pay to see. It did keep me engaged, even though I found Beth totally immature and self-absorbed. Leo would have been far better off if the truth had been revealed as it should have been, even if Frank wanted to punish himself for Bobby’s death in this “self-sacrificing” way, causing extra trauma all around!
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I’m not sure Leo would have interviewed. As far as anyone - other than the principal
characters - knows, Leo, Beth, and Gabriel are at Meadowlands when the death happens. At least, Beth and Leo supposedly are; nor would Gabriel have been present at the scene. He dropped Jimmy off and then supposedly left. Anyway Beth herself isn’t questioned about the shooting as far as I can tell. I just checked on that and it looks right.
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I vaguely recall Beth was asked some Qs and took a long time answering as no one knew what Frank had in mind.
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Possibly looks like maybe Beth is questioned (first page of the novel) but no scenes of Beth on the witness stand like others are. (Feel free to correct me; I just can’t find her being questioned.) Gabriel testifies that he left Beth and Leo at Meadowlands and dropped Jimmy off at the farm. Surely the police asked questions but maybe left the traumatized child alone. After all, he wasn’t there or so everyone thought.
Well that’s shoddy police work if you ask me. Miss Marple would have figured it out. 
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Also, Beth was a spouse of the accused, so maybe they figured (with shoddy police work), she’d invoke her spousal privilege and refuse to testify against her spouse.
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Coming in a little late. I’m at a reunion with grad school friends (14 of us currently!) We all lived in the same house at Caltech at overlapping times. I too gave this 3 out of 5 starts. Like Ignatius I saw one of the two twists, which for me is amazing because I never guess mysteries! I do think the prologue warns you with that “a farmer” that Beth is not necessarily going to be the most reliable narrator. I found it a fairly compelling read and thought her descriptions of the countryside and teenage sex were spot on. I despised the time jumps. I think they just artificially gin up the suspense. It didn’t help I was reading a book for a Spanish book club that also had a non-linear timeline that was even more annoying.
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I’ve pondered my GoodReads rating as it sits at 3.5 stars. I can’t see scooting the overall rating to 4 stars because the ending bothers me. Here’s the deal for me though: I consider three stars a good rating rather than “meh.” It means I like the book and I do. Reason: I wanted to know what happened. The author hooked me with that first page. (For me, 2 stars = meh.)
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I think the author does a good job with the setting; place and time play an important part in the story. I could picture the farm, Meadowlands, the pub, the school. There’s almost an isolation around the characters that adds to the story. Yes, the pub plays its own part, particularly for Jimmy and the town kicks in for his wedding. We’re told Frank is well-liked but I still get that sense of isolation, particularly at Bobby’s birthday party.
As for time, Beth would not have been asked to leave in this day and age, not for pregnancy. Gabriel’s mom would have had less power. It wouldn’t have worked as well in other ways either. Living on a farm, Frank and Beth would have the location finder set on their phones; no sneaking off to Meadowlands during the day.
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Broken Country seems to be a good book club selection, eliciting so many interesting and varied opinions.
This is a short 2 minute clip of the author speaking about how and when ahe decided on the twists. She discusses Franks motivation for protecting Leo and taking the fall.
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I haven’t quite decided if the time setting was enough for Beth to just give up on her dreams of Oxford and a better life to become a farmer’s wife. I may be showing my own biases here, but I just felt this seemed a poor plot point (obviously it had to happen because the rest of the book relies on it).
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