The Weight of What was

I have spoken about Reese Witherspoon Book Club picks. Her books usually spotlight women centered books, and Broken Country is no exception. 

Beth Kennedy lives a quiet life with her kind husband Frank, but everything changes when her brother-in-law shoots a dog that belonged to Gabriel Wolfe—Beth’s teenage love who mysteriously reappears in the village with his son Leo.

Gabriel’s return stirs up buried emotions and unresolved grief, especially surrounding the tragic death of Beth’s son, Bobby. As tensions rise, a murder investigation unfolds, and Beth is forced to confront the woman she once was and the choices that shaped her life.

I chose this book as my pick for my book club.  I thought the story and deep emotions would resonate with the members of the book club.  While I loved the book, they did not.  They specifically did not like the way Frank (Beth's Husband) was treated  

For me, the novel’s strength lies with its ability to cover complicated emotions: loyalty and longing, grief and renewal, the versions of ourselves we outgrow and the ones we can’t quite leave behind. Beth’s journey isn’t neat, but it feels honest, and that honesty stayed with me long after I turned the last page. In the end, I’m glad I chose it. Even disagreement sparked good conversation, and sometimes that’s the real gift of a book club pick.