Judy's Review:

Four generations of Welsh women are locked into this marvellously heartwarming novel from Ruth Jones: Grace, her daughter Alys, granddaughter Elin and great-granddaughter Beca. Grace is fast approaching her 90th birthday; the only thing on her mind is a reunion with Alys, the daughter she hasn’t seen for 30 years. Grace is close to Alys’s own daughter, Elin, but the family rift runs deep, affecting Elin’s marriage and her relationship with her teenage daughter Beca.

Grace knows that by tracing and meeting Alys after so many years she risks her granddaughter’s fury. As far as Elin is concerned, she has no mother. But Grace is close to the end of her life, and she knows she has no choice but to try to heal her family.

Jones has a wonderful writing gift. She exudes warmth and wisdom, and reading this book makes you feel someone’s draped a warm overcoat across your shoulders. She’s also very witty, which makes Love Untold irresistible.

Richard's Review:

The thread which binds together mothers and daughters throughout their lives is awesomely strong; motherhood forges links of steel across generations, as I’ve seen myself since our own daughter gave birth to her first child - a girl. The depth of emotion between Judy, Chloe and baby Bobo is wonderful to watch, and in Love Untold this intergenerational maternal web is beautifully captured by Ruth Jones.

The novel is set in Jones’s beloved Wales, and scattered with Welsh terms of endearment, which adds to the sensation of reading it wrapped in a comfort blanket. But it’s realistic, too, about family feuds and the terrible wounds they can inflict.

I also enjoyed the unpatronising way in which Jones portrays Grace, the family matriarch. Although she’s almost 90, she’s sharp as a tack, witty and formidable. In fact all four women in this family saga are as strong as they are warm.

This is a lovely book. It will make you laugh and cry. What more could you want?