I enjoy Ruth Jones as a screenwriter, but, unfortunately, I didn't enjoy her as an author.
I felt that the characters lacked personality and the plot was staid.
There were no unexpected surprises throughout the book, the storyline was predictable and the ending was weak and disappointing.
Sorry Ruth - stick with Gavin and Stacey ( they never let you down! ).

I asked for this out of curiosity, to see if it was yet another celebrity book, but was very pleased to see that the writing was perfectly readable and the story kept jogging along nicely. Very much commercial fiction and does the job.

What a lovely book, I couldn’t put it down.
Lina works for the council finding information about deceased people who die without family.
Levi Norman is one such person. We find out his life story and how he did once have family and what happened to leave him all alone on a highland island.
Sad, funny, all in all a great book.

I’ve read all of Ruth’s novels so far and this one didn’t disappoint. I liked every character and loved Linda and Levi and how their entirely unrelated stories came together. The book was beautifully structured, moving back and forth in time whilst eventually coming together at the end (no spoilers!)
The setting was beautifully described and made me want to visit!
Definitely recommended reading.

I've always enjoyed Ruth Jones as an actress, but never knew she was an author until I saw this book on Netgalley. I had to request it to add to my "written by British celebs" collection, and I'm so glad I did. I couldn't put it down. The characters immediately drew me in and took me on a real emotional journey. Even the minor characters were a joy. I liked the dual timelines, and the fact that romance and paddle boarding were not just for the young.

I loved this, and will definitely be seeking out Jones' previous books.

***Disclaimer: This e-ARC was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Huge thanks to them. ***

If you’re a fan of Ruth jones work & writing skills I.e gavin & Stacey, Stella you will instantly love this book. It is witty, funny, sad, heartbreaking but also heartwarming

Ruth jones knows how to collaborate the essence of a lot of emotions in one book but also make you feel like your in that world.

When reading this book I felt like I was watching everything unfold the descriptions of the characters and the settings made the reading experience so enjoyable.

I absolutely adored the characters, Linda the witty, funny woman who is unapologetic of growing old gracefully. She truely is an icon.

Levi 🥺I absolutely loved his character getting to know the character from his history and how he met the love of his life was absolutely beautiful. I could scream more about all the other characters but i truly think this book should be read with the least context possible.

This book was truly a masterpiece and I feel honoured to have had an arc copy of this book. I highly recommend

This is the first Ruth Jones book I've read, but like most readers I know her from her TV writing and acting. I knew if it was written to the same standard as her screenwriting it would be a decent book.

I wasn't disappointed. This is a lovely story of a local council worker whose job it is to trace lost heirs. Due for retirement, her last job takes her to a small island off the coast of Scotland to uncover a story of love and loss, joy and pain. There are two narratives in the story: her life and her investigation, and the story of the man who had died and whose heir she was trying to find.

Predictable in many ways, as stories like these often are; but that's not necessarily a bad thing, and it makes this a good holiday read, or for when curled up on a sofa on a rainy day,

I'll be honest here: I choose this book out of interest because of the pedigree of writing from Ruth, and although I enjoyed it, it didn't pull me along and put off eating, drinking and work to carry on reading. It's not my type of book, but nevertheless, I enjoyed it.

Linda Standish has worked for the local council for years in rural Sotland and is now in the little-known lost heirs department. Her job is to find out more about the deceased and track down their relatives, tying up loose ends and to bring things together in a tidy fashion.
Linda is now in her mid-fifties and the department is facing a shake-up. In her last 'case' before taking redundancy, Linda finds herself on a tiny island, investigating the life of Levi Norman, a hermit of a man no-one knows very much about.
This was my first Ruth Jones novel - I love her screenwriting and also her television roles, so was pleased to be sent this book from NetGalley and the publishers.
I was not disappointed.
It's a lovely, easy read, with lots of humour, heart and warmth, and holds its head higher above its women's commercial fiction competitors by really getting to the kernel of characters and taking the reader with them, laughing with them, crying with them, and wanting to find out what happens.
The dual narrative between Linda in the present and Levi and his family in the past works very well, with the reader quite comfortable in both time zones. It's pacy, funny and would make a great Sunday everning television series, with Ruth (obviously) taking the role of Linda.
Highly recommended.

This was my first Ruth Jones read but it certainly won't be my last!

What a beautiful and heartwarming read about the trials and tribulations of family life. We follow Linda, a council worker for the unclaimed heirs department who takes on one final case before accepting early retirement.
The story crosses between timelines between present and past as we learn the life of Levi Norman. This is a truly heartbreaking read at moments, but it is beautifully balanced with humour and connection.
I loved the setting, I loved the multiple and interwoven story lines and mostly I loved the characters. Ruth's writing made me feel like I knew them all - I enjoyed the humour and the more tender, vulnerable moments each character showed.

Thank you to Netgalley, Ruth Jones and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Families are not necessarily made by blood but love and commitment.
Working for the council tracking down relative's of people who have died with no known heirs Linda travels to a remote Scottish Isle to find clues leading to any relatives.
Not just the story of the deceased but residents of the Isle, Linda and her family.
I became invested in all the story lines and enjoyed all of them.
Enjoy I definitely did.

God how do I even start to talk about the impact this book had on me? After reading Sunrise on the Reaping last month I honestly didn’t think any book would hit quite as good but I was so very wrong!

‘By Your Side’ follows Linda Standish, a council worker in the Unclaimed Heirs Unit on her final case before retirement - that of Levi Norman, a Welshman who had made his home on a remote Scottish island. The more that Linda (and I) learned about the details of Levi’s past the more hooked I became in the story. How Ruth Jones interves the details of the past and present is nothing short of pure genius storytelling.

You will fall in love with every character you meet in this story (except perhaps a certain Storrich local and his angry wife) and really feel like you come to know them infinitely - Linda and Levi in particular. Linda’s character feels so refreshingly honest, she is a wonderful mix of humour, anguish, insecurity and strength.

From probably 15% of the way into this book I’ve been telling everyone I know about it, updating them on Levi’s life and the revelations as they came, usually with tears streaming down my face. Having recently lost a family member this story felt particularly poignant; it was completely heart warming whilst also being utterly devastating. It’s fair to say I will be buying a copy of this book for all of my friends and family when it is released.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review 💜

It’s been so long since a book made me both laugh and cry in equal measure.

I’ve been filled with existential depth: You never really know the importance of a stranger’s memory box until you learn their story.

Linda’s about to retire from her role of 30+ years as an employee who hunts out the wills of the lonely deceased, tracking down their next of kin to ensure any treasured inheritance lands in the right hands. Her last job is a particularly emotional one, it’s the friends she makes along the way that are 100% the real treasure.

A beautiful book by Ruth Jones. I’m a huge fan of her writing, notably Gavin and Stacey of course, but this book gave me all the feels too. It felt like reading about Nessa in another life. Highly recommended if you want to set your emotions alight in one delightful sitting. X

This is an emotional and compelling read which really tugged at the heartstrings. Linda works at the missing heirs section of the council in Inverness, tracking down relatives of people that have died alone. Contemplating retirement she is given one last case, that of Levi Norman who has died on an island in the Hebrides.
As she travels to the island with a local undertaker, to bring back the body and search for clues as to whether he has any family, Linda reflects on her own life and the next stage of it. Her son and grandson are moving away and she is feeling slightly lost.
This is also the story of Levi and the reader is treated to his past history, how he met the love of his life and the secret he has kept for most of it.
I found this book very moving, Levi’s decisions were not well thought out but he made them because of love and a very human emotion, fear of loss
The novel also examines grief and how different people deal with it. Levi found it difficult to let go but Linda is driven to help others to mitigate her own loss..
The characters are all well rounded and seemed real to me- Linda’s large size and her jokes about it are a defence mechanism against tge hurtful comments she fears.
I liked the romance element, both in Levi’s life in the 1980s and Linda’s present day encounter on the island.
There was also a lot of humour in the novel which lightened the dark subjects being discussed. Linda made an excellent narrator - she had such a great turn of phrase and some of her comments were so funny. Her banter with Fergus , her travelling companion and the local undertaker offers many examples of this.
All in all this was a thoroughly enjoyable read, cleverly plotted and thought provoking. I definitely recommend it as a five star novel and will look out for further books by this author as, believe it or not, this was actually my first!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

A lovely, heart warming, unusual tale of grasping life while you can and celebrating it. Linda searches out the family of the bereaved and her last case is a man who died alone on a Scottish island. His story is gradually revealed as is that of Linda.

Thank you to @netgalley @bantambooksuk for the digital advance copy of By Your Side!

Linda works in the unclaimed department of the council, which leads her to a case on a remote Hebridean island where an elderly man has passed, seemingly without any family or next of kin. A recluse in the tight knit, small community, no one knew the mysterious Levi Norman. So it's Linda's job to find out more and hopefully tie up some loose ends.

And what follows is a heartbreaking journey through past and present as Linda learns as much about herself as she does Levi.

I absolutely adored this book and the way Ruth has told the story so beautifully and with so much humour and heart. There's so much to take away from it about the power of family and never taking anything for granted.

Five stars from me if there's nothing higher available!

By Your Side is released in May 💜

What can I say orher than I absolutely loved this story. I became so invested in Linda and her mission to find out what happened with Levi & his daughter. Such a wonderful but sad story and the setting couldn't have been more perfect. I really didn't want this book to end.

I’ve read and enjoyed Ruth Jones’s previous novels, so I knew I’d be in safe hands here, but it surpassed my hopes by re-connecting me with a niche interest I’ve had since coming across another (non-fiction) book, Ashes to Admin: Tales from the Caseload of a Council Funeral Officer by Evie King. This was a couple of years ago, and I found myself fascinated by the behind-the-scenes work of council-based “unknown heirs” departments, and the emotions involved in the jobs they do - bearing witness to a stranger’s life when there’s no-one close to the deceased to do this. So By Your Side scratched this itch, as we delve into archiving the life of just such a case as would appear on a council funeral officer’s books. I need to find more books that provide perspectives on this profession, but for now, I’m so glad that Ruth has novelised it.

What a fabulous read! Linda works in the unclaimed heirs unit at her local council, and has just discovered that due to cuts she will be leaving the service. She takes on one last case of a deceased man called Levi to reunite his ashes with his family.

The book weaves from past to present day as Linda travels to a remote Scottish island to unpick the mysteries of one man's life.

Full of fabulous characters, a hint of romance and the real emotions of being a menopausal woman and all that brings, i thought this was just brilliant. Thoroughly heart warming and definitely one for the book shelf. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was so looking forward to reading this new title from Ruth Jones and it so did not disappoint. What a fabulous characters and such a brilliant storyline. I felt as though I had known these people for years and really cared about them and their lives. Totally brilliant read. Thank you, Ruth,

I loved this book. I have read previously books by Ruth Jones so knew that this story would be a page turner.
The story focuses on two characters, Levi and Linda. I loved the humour that was shown throughout the book. It is a beautiful story of love, loss and discovery.
I recommend this book, I really enjoyed it.