By Your Side By Ruth Jones
Genre – Women’s Fiction
My Rating – ★★★★★
I had the incredible chance to dive
into an advance copy of Ruth Jones’s, By Your side, thanks to Netgalley and Random
House UK, Transworld Publishers.
Due to be released on 22nd May 2025
This is the third book that I have read by Ruth
Jones and it really did not disappoint.
Synopsis
Linda and Levi will never meet. But
they’re going to change each other’s lives.
In her role at the council’s Unclaimed
Heirs Unit, Linda Standish investigates the lives of those who’ve died alone
and tracks down any living relatives. She’s been a friend to the friendless for
the past thirty-three years. And now she’s looking forward to an early
retirement.
But before she hangs up her lanyard,
Linda takes on one last case – that of Levi Norman – a Welshman who made his
home on a remote Scottish island for the past five years.
What brought Levi here? And who did he
leave behind? Obliged to travel (by hearse) with her arch nemesis Fergus
Murray, and helped (and hindered) by local residents, Linda searches for clues
to a life now lost. And in the process unexpectedly makes new friends, and
discovers things about herself she never knew.
My Review
What a compelling, emotional yet
heart-warming story of love, family relationships, life struggles and community
spirit. It had me living in Linda’s shoes from start to finish. With characters
that were realistic and relatable, it had me gripped. I struggled to put it
down, read it within 24 hours and just needed to find out, who was Levi Norman,
did Linda manage to solve the case, was there a happy ever after for Linda and Brodie?
Ruth wrote this book in such an
empathetic way. She gave me a real mix of emotions from smirking at the antics
to shedding a tear at the heart wrenching situations.
I think this book may stay with me for
a while yet!
Thank you Netgalley
and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for the opportunity to read and review
this advance copy.
