Broken Country

Beth watches from the public gallery as Gabriel testifies at Frank’s murder trial, observing that both men are wearing the same suits they wore to Jimmy and Nina’s wedding. Sitting with her sister, Eleanor, Beth listens as the prosecutor questions Gabriel about his relationship with Beth. Gabriel recounts how they first met as teenagers, their initial love affair, and how their feelings rekindled years later upon his return to Meadowlands. He admits that their affair began immediately after Jimmy and Nina’s wedding, drawing disapproval from the court.

Gabriel describes the night of the shooting: Beth warned him that Jimmy was armed, Jimmy shot through his kitchen window, and Gabriel convinced Jimmy to let him drive him back to the farm. The prosecutor reveals that Gabriel is paying Frank’s legal costs, suggesting that guilt motivates his generosity. During the cross-examination, Gabriel emphasizes Jimmy’s aggressive, drunken state that night. Later, outside the courthouse, Beth and Gabriel briefly lock eyes before he escapes the press by jumping into a cab. Their exchange is captured by photographers and appears in newspapers with headlines about their love and heartbreak. That evening, Eleanor tries to reassure Beth that Frank will be acquitted, though Beth remains anxious about his fate.

Eleanor, a solicitor, stays with Beth during the trial, explaining court procedures and preparing her for what to expect. Beth reflects on Eleanor’s relentless pre-trial preparation with Frank, in which she made him rehearse his testimony repeatedly. Frank’s defense relies on his claim that Jimmy’s death was due to an accidental discharge during a struggle over the shotgun. Beth recalls meeting Gabriel secretly before the trial, telling him that their relationship must end despite her feelings for him.

During the trial, Frank testifies about his relationship with Jimmy, explaining that he didn’t object to Beth’s affair because he felt responsible for their son Bobby’s death. The prosecutor aggressively cross-examines Frank, suggesting that he killed Jimmy in a rage when Jimmy insulted Beth. In a surprise development, Jimmy’s widow, Nina, appears as a character witness, despite having cut all contact with the family after Jimmy’s death. Nina testifies that “there isn’t a person in the world who loved Jimmy more than Frank, not even [her]” (263). Meanwhile, Beth suspects that she might be pregnant again but hesitates to share this with Frank during their brief prison phone call, not wanting to raise his hopes.

After nearly 24 hours of deliberation, the jury returns to deliver their verdict in Frank’s trial. Beth scrutinizes their faces for clues as they enter, noticing how none of them look at Frank. The court clerk asks the jury supervisor if they’ve reached a unanimous verdict.

When the supervisor announces “not guilty” on the murder charge, Beth, Eleanor, and her father express immediate relief. However, when the clerk asks about the manslaughter charge, the supervisor pronounces “guilty.” Eleanor screams in protest as shock ripples through the gallery. Beth stands and calls Frank’s name as he is led away by prison officers. Despite his situation, Frank manages to smile at Beth and give her a single nod before he disappears. Beth thinks to herself that she should never have allowed it to go this far.

This chapter reveals what truly happened on the night of Jimmy’s death. Beth and Leo are hiding under the kitchen table, and Gabriel returns and announces that he will drive Jimmy back to the farm. Leo, terrified of being left alone, joins them. At the farm, Frank helps his brother inside and thanks Gabriel for bringing him home while Leo stays in the car. Jimmy, enraged by Frank’s gratitude, lunges at him and attempts to strangle him.

Leo bursts into the house with Jimmy’s shotgun, which was left in the car, and fires at Jimmy. The blast hits Jimmy, who falls to the floor bleeding. As Frank kneels beside his dying brother, he makes a momentous decision: He will claim responsibility for the shooting. He orders Beth to leave with Gabriel and Leo, saying, “He’s my brother, let me deal with it my way” (274). As they drive away, Beth recognizes her husband’s noble but misguided sacrifice to protect an 11-year-old boy from the consequences of his actions.

After the trial, Beth returns to the demanding routines of farm life, finding some relief in the physical labor of tending to the sheep. While checking on the ewes, she reflects on how the chain of events leading to their tragedy began a year ago, when Leo’s dog attacked their lambs. Gabriel unexpectedly appears in the field, expressing remorse about Frank’s conviction. When Gabriel questions why Frank would take responsibility for a child who isn’t his, Beth reveals the truth: Bobby was Gabriel’s biological son.

Gabriel is devastated by this revelation and the further discovery that his mother had known about Beth’s pregnancy and paid her to keep it secret. He initially reacts with anger, accusing Beth of keeping his son from him. Beth responds furiously, shouting that Frank “was the best father to Bobby. Better than [Gabriel] could ever have been” (279). Despite their painful exchange, the chapter ends with them embracing in the field, united by their shared grief for Bobby.

This chapter returns to the time when teenage Beth first realizes that she’s pregnant with Gabriel’s child. Though she considers contacting him, she believes that he’s moved on with Louisa. She visits Meadowlands hoping to find Gabriel, but instead, she encounters his mother, Tessa. When Beth reveals her pregnancy, Tessa immediately suggests abortion or adoption, giving Beth a check for £1,000 in exchange for her silence about the baby’s paternity.

Shortly afterward, Beth is called to the headmistress’s office at school and told that she won’t be returning next term. Sister Ignatius reveals that Tessa made a generous donation to the school to effectively buy Beth’s removal. After Christmas, Frank visits Beth and takes her to see abandoned baby birds in a nest at an oak tree on his farm. When Beth bluntly tells Frank that she’s pregnant, he calmly considers this information before asking if they should celebrate. He opens his arms to her, and Beth steps into his embrace, accepting his unconditional support and love for both her and her unborn child.

Six years after Frank’s conviction, Beth watches her five-year-old daughter, Grace, helping with lambs in the field. Grace shows the same natural affinity for farming as her brother, Bobby, once did, having just delivered her first lamb by herself. Beth reflects on how Grace was born eight months after Frank’s trial, conceived during their attempts to rebuild their relationship. Though Frank chose his daughter’s name from prison and cherished news of her, he refused to let Beth bring Grace to visit him, wanting them to remember him only outside prison walls.

During Frank’s incarceration, Beth’s parents returned from Ireland to help run the farm, and her mother started a successful cheese business. Gabriel and Leo regularly visited Frank, helping him heal by sharing memories of Bobby. Gabriel has told Leo that Bobby was his half-brother, and they now live in California. Nina, meanwhile, has found new happiness with another man.

The chapter culminates with Frank’s unexpected early release from prison. Beth watches as Grace sees her father walking up the field and runs to meet him for the first time. As Frank embraces his daughter, they both shout, “I AM HOME” to the sky (302). Beth runs to join them, and they are finally reunited as a family with the possibility of a new beginning.

On the next page is a transcript of a poem that Beth wrote for Frank. The poem is written from Bobby’s perspective, and he tells Frank that there was no pain when he died; the only pain is that which Frank is feeling, and it is time to let it go. He encourages Frank to remember the days he lived and that he is now a part of the earth.