Broken Country is a Summer Read with Soul

Aug 6, 2025 - Nancy C.
Review

If you’re looking for a bit of a meatier summer read, Broken Country is a great choice. Very well-written, it has romance, mystery and a little suspense that Clare Leslie Hall dangles in front of the reader like catnip.

Hall takes us on a journey through the simple yet tangled lives of Maggie and Frank Johnson, a farming couple deeply in love but wearing a cloak of grief that permeates their very being. We learn early on that there has been a death, the how of it unknown. The story weaves back and forth from the time when Frank and Maggie were teenagers until present day. Throughout that period we watch Maggie experience a profoundly deep but ultimately doomed romantic relationship with her wealthy neighbour Gabriel Wolfe. We watch as Frank picks up the broken pieces of Maggie and makes her whole again. We experience the births and deaths that test the strength of their love and ultimately, we are witness to a love so profound that it almost breaks your heart.

A great book that you won’t want to put down!

Nancy C.
Library Assistant, John M. Harper Branch

Nancy has worked at the John M. Harper Branch as a Library Assistant for over 11 years. Her best days are when she can introduce readers, both young and not-so-young, to new authors/series. She feels like a kid in a candy store at the library, always amazed at the new finds that she discovers. She loves the wide selection of movies/TV series and has done a good number of the amazing puzzles that are in the collection. Nancy sings in a local choir and hits the stage with a theatre production company in New Hamburg. She is an avid reader, gardener, golfer, and newly back to skiing after a 30-year hiatus.