Love Untold: The joyful Sunday Times bestseller and Richard and Judy book club pick 2023

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In her new novel Love Untold, Ruth Jones invites us into the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters through raw and believable characterisation. With Grace’s 90th birthday looming, the lives of the Meredith women begin to unravel as they are forced to confront the past, and revelations boil to the surface.

This is a wonderful and powerful story about the bond between mother and daughter. The reader learns the history of this family, and the hurt and pain that has been caused in the past. RUTH JONES is best known for her outstanding and award-winning television writing, most notably BBC One’s Gavin and Stacey, which she co-wrote with James Corden and in which she played the incorrigible Nessa Jenkins. The most recent Christmas Day special of Gavin and Stacey gained national critical acclaim, drawing an audience of over 18 million and winning a BAFTA for TV moment of the year. Ruth also created and co-wrote Sky One’s Stella, which ran for six series. All families have their problems. And most of them get resolved. But Grace’s problem is thirty years old. And she doesn’t have time on her side. Is it too late for her to make peace? Or is reconciliation still within reach? Love, mess, secrets; this story of four generations of women is shot through with Ruth Jones's warmth and wisdom. A big warm blanket of a book. I loved it Jojo MoyesGrace is eighty-nine, she’s proud and independent and enjoys an early morning swim in the sea, no matter what the weather. Ruth Jones: Yes, I like that. I really do. I’m glad that it comes across; I do try, and it makes me feel better about life when I write in that way. I think there’s enough nastiness in the world as it is, and I don’t want to add to it! So yes, my writing is pretty gentle, I guess. I tend not to have villains, and I still believe in the whole thing that there is a little bit of good in the worst of us and a little bit of bad in the best of us. Elin Matthews (married to Greg) is Grace’s granddaughter. She is the Head Teacher of St Stephen’s High and mother to Beca.

First there are two definitions of “untold”. One is “existing or present in an amount that is too large to be measured”. The other is ‘an untold story has never been read or heard by the public’. In a way I think both are relevant to this song. It’s a song you are hearing, maybe for the first time, of this incredible love story. The singer presents himself as the observer of this incredible love story and asks us to identify with “the saddest love of all”. However, when he speaks of the difficulty in describing this situation you suddenly realize he is talking about himself and his unrequited greatest love of all. His final fadeout “We were goin’ meet” reveals who he was singing about.

I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this book . This is an emotional , heartwarming and captivating read and I finished it in one afternoon , completely unable to put it down ! And when she finds her— if she does—she risks betraying granddaughter Elin. Who is far less forgiving of the past, with its hurts and secrets and lies. Meanwhile Grace's great-grand-daughter Beca is oblivious to all these worries, too busy navigating the highs and lows of teenage life and keeping secrets of her own. Grace lives in Dylan’s Quay. She had lived there since her husband Aneurin Meredith died in 1968. Grace had moved in with John and Cissie Edwards to turn their beautiful home, Syn-yMor, into a guest house. Her daughter, Alys reluctantly moves in with her but escapes to London as soon as she turned eighteen. Grace Meredith is eighty-nine years old. Widowed in her thirties, left to bring up a teenage daughter, Alys, she ran a boarding house with her friends John, and his sister Cassie for years until Cassie and John's ill-health forced them to move to a home where she visits them every day. Despite her age Grace swims daily, either in the hideous swimming pool in her garden or wild swimming in the sea, and does yoga several times a week. Ruth Jones’ third novel is another warm, heartfelt story, filled with strong and joyful female characters that captures the challenges and joys of relationships and family.