Buchtipp aus der Stadtbibliothek: Broken Country

She was ­seventeen when she had 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 and that it would last forever. 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 had imag­ined with Gabriel. And there was a time  – even years – when she was happy. Watching her husband and son riding a tractor across their farm, she remembered feeling so sure that, after every­thing, this was the life she was sup­posed to be leading. However, Gabriel came back, and all Beth’s certainty about who she was and what she wanted crumbled. Even after ten years, their connection was instant. She knew it was wrong and she knew people could get hurt. But how could she resist a second chance at first love?

The novel is not only a romantic rekindling between past lovers but also a heartbreaking examination of family, grief, and the choices we make.

Clare Leslie Hall, Broken country, John Murray, 2025.