Grace is approaching ninety and a surprise party is planned for her, organised by her granddaughter, Elin, yet all Grace requires is the rift in her family to be healed. Love, mess, secrets; this story of four generations of women is filled with Ruth Jones’s warmth and wisdom. The author pens a beautiful story that includes an exploration of the family trees of the two leads, their character profiles, and maps of Billericay and Barry with key landmarks and key sights. Her debut novel Never Greener was a number one bestseller, and her second - Us Three - is out in 2020.

Ruth's second novel, Us Three, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller in hardback and paperback and has sold almost a quarter of a million copies. She has three brothers and sisters and remembers that she loved participating in yearly theatre and musical productions in school. Acknowledging early on that some of the book will necessarily be conjecture, albeit based on his favourite scientific theories, the author poses questions about the red planet’s 4. She has won acclaim for her performances in BBC dramas Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Little Dorrit and Hattie, as well as comedies Little Britain, Saxondale and Nighty Night.When I started the book, I wasn’t that sure about the characters as Grace is easy to understand and love, however, the same can’t be said for her granddaughter, beautifully portrayed as a Head Teacher, following in her grandfather’s footsteps, whereas her daughter hates school and the tension between the two is palpable.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Random House for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Love Untold is the first book I’ve read by Ruth Jones, but after loving it I’ve added her others to my (ever-growing) list. Following her tour in 1989, Ruth suffered a severe lack of work and ultimately had to settle for a job as a Kensington clerical assistant on a temporary basis, so that she could get money to fund her passion. I must be very careful about spoilers in this delicious novel revolving around this family so full of resentment, long-held anger, prodigal daughters, and cold-water swimming.I thought for this one, I’m going to keep it simple, but I ended up having a load of flashbacks – I’m actually really pleased with how they all turned out, but it was quite complicated to work out the structure of this one in lots of ways. I fell in love with Grace, Elin, Beca (and Soozi) straight away, but it did take me a long time to warm to Alys. This combination made for a BAFTA award-winning comedy that would soon become one of the biggest shows in the United Kingdom right behind Little Britain. As well as being Bafta-nominated for her role as the eponymous Stella, Ruth has starred in several other television comedies and dramas. I was completely captivated by this character-driven story of mother/daughter relationships and really cared about the characters; I was genuinely sad to finish it and leave them all behind.