Love Untold by Ruth Jones

 

Grace is about to turn ninety. She doesn't want parties or presents or fuss. She just wants to heal the family rift that's been breaking her heart for decades.

But to do that she must find her daughter Alys - the only person who can help to put things right.

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.

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.

So is it too late for her to make peace? Or is reconciliation still within reach?

I am late to the Ruth Jones party with Love Untold being my first novel of hers that I have read and add to that the first novel that I remember having ever read that features a family of four generations of strong women.

Grace is head of the family and has her 90^th birthday fast approaching and what a sprightly 90 year old she is. Her daughter Alys has had a turbulent life and she takes a little more warming to as her actions scream selfish and self-centred but as is often the case there is a root cause that lead her down the path she took. Then we have Erin who looks like the most in control, successful woman who has it all until things take a turn and her life and the way she knows it looks like it is about to turn on her head. Finally, we have Bec who brings a youthful vibrancy to the storyline along with her friend Soozi who channels “Ness” with her Welsh dialect and splashes of wit.

There were copious amounts of relatable realistic issues that each of our characters face which gave a more in-depth and somewhat believable feel to the storyline. The characters all have their flaws and these are not sugar coated they are tackled head on and this shows the repercussions some of the things have on life of the flawed and those close to them.

There is a lot of hopping around from one character to the other which takes a little getting used to but before long you find it easy to differentiate between each character and begin to build an insightful bond with each of them by not hearing just what others thoughts are of them but to be able to hear from the character themselves too to see both sides of the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I loved getting to know these characters as I love a book that looks into family dynamics and complex characters added to this such a bittersweet ending that was tied up perfectly just made this book a real pleasure to read and I will be adding the authors previous books to my TBR pile now.

Hardback            Kindle