As a teenager, Beth falls in love with Gabriel, the rich boy whose family owns Meadowlands, the lavish estate nearby.

Beth dreams of going to Oxford, something expected of Gabriel, but an uphill battle for a middle class female in the 1950s.

Beth nearly achieves her dreams, but her jealousy and mistrust of Gabriel, who is at Oxford a year before she plans to be, poisons their relationship.

She then goes back to Frank, a quiet, patient boy from town who admires her from afar. When she falls pregnant, they marry and she becomes a farmer’s wife.

Frank runs Blakely Farm with his brother Jimmy, a charmer who drinks a bit too much.

One day, Gabriel appears at Meadowlands with his young son Leo in tow. When their dog attacks the Blakely Farm lambs, killing several of them, Jimmy shoots Leo’s dog.

Beth’s heart goes out to the sobbing Leo. She feels even more sympathetic when she learns that Gabriel and his wife are divorced and Leo struggles to fit in at the local school.

Beth agrees to take a part-time job watching Leo after school even though Frank doesn’t approve.

Beth and her husband Frank are still mourning the tragic accidental death of their nine year-old son, Bobby. Frank and Jimmy were cutting down a dead tree. Frank and Jimmy told Bobby to watch from a distance, but Jimmy came running up as the tree fell and the tree crushed him.

Beth and Gabriel begin to reconnect and discuss the miscommunication that led to their breakup. She thought he was cheating on her, but he now denies it. They start a secret affair.

When a reporter comes to town to interview Gabriel, she starts asking questions about his obviously relationship with his neighbor Beth.

As the town learns about the affair, Jimmy is furious at Frank for not putting a stop to it.

One night, a drunken Jimmy comes after Gabriel. Beth, who has come to warn Gabriel, hides with Leo under a table. After Jimmy calms down, Gabriel, Beth and Leo Jimmy back to Blakley Farm.

At the farm, Jimmy suddenly goes for Gabriel’s throat. Leo shoots Jimmy.

Frank tells Gabriel to take Leo home and he and Beth try to convince the police that Jimmy’s death was an accident in which Frank and a drunken Jimmy were struggling over the gun.

Broken Country: The Ending Explained

Frank is acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Gabriel comes to the farm to ask Beth why Frank would have taken the blame for something Leo did.

Beth finally confesses all: because Bobby was Gabriel’s biological son, and Frank still felt guilty for Bobby’s death.

Gabriel is horrified.

Beth also tells Gabriel that his snobby mother Tessa knew about her pregnancy and paid Beth off to leave.

As Frank serves out his sentence, Beth learns she is pregnant with Frank’s baby.

Frank does not want a pregnant Beth to visit him in prison, but allows Gabriel and Leo to visit and hear stories about Bobby. This is healing for everyone.

About five years later, Frank is released from prison and meets his daughter Grace.