What is By Your Side by Ruth Jones about?

Linda Standish, a council officer about to retire, takes on the case of Levi Norman, a Welshman who lived on a remote Scottish island before he died. She travels there to find his relatives and learns about his life and about herself.

Who wrote By Your Side?

It was written by Ruth Jones, the BAFTA-winning co-writer of Gavin and Stacey and author of Love Untold. It was published by Transworld Digital in 2025.

By Your Side

A warm, funny novel about friendship, community and second chances.

Reading guide

It can be started straight away, with nothing to read beforehand, as the story is self-contained in the publisher's description.

Linda, due to retire soon, is given one last case: tracing the family of Levi Norman, who died after making his home on Storrich. She travels to the island with her arch nemesis and gets to know the locals, who both help and hinder her. As she uncovers what Levi's life was like and who he left behind, she makes new friends and discovers things about herself.

Description

Linda Standish has spent thirty-three years at the council's Unclaimed Heirs Unit, looking after people with no one else to look out for them. Just before she retires, she takes on one last case: Levi Norman, a Welshman who lived his final five years on Storrich, a remote Scottish island. To find his relatives, Linda has to make the journey there, by hearse and in the company of her arch nemesis.

The islanders prove as much of a hindrance as a help, but as Linda pieces together a life that has now ended, she makes unexpected friends and learns things about herself she never knew. Ruth Jones, the BAFTA-winning co-writer of Gavin and Stacey, brings her gift for comedy and kindness to this story, which the publisher describes as a celebration of friendship, love and community.

Books in this Series

By Your Side

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