By Your Side

For thirty-three years Linda Standish has worked at the council's Unclaimed Heirs Unit, a friend to the friendless. Early retirement is in sight, but first comes one last case: Levi Norman, a Welshman who spent the final five years of his life on Storrich, a remote Scottish island. What brought him there, and who did he leave behind?

Linda must travel by hearse with her arch nemesis, and the islanders prove as much hindrance as help. As she pieces together a life now gone, she makes new friends and learns things about herself she never knew. Ruth Jones, the BAFTA-winning co-writer of Gavin and Stacey, brings her ear for comedy and kindness to a story of community and second chances. A warm, funny novel for anyone who likes their laughter with a lump in the throat.