Scala Radio Book Club: Love Untold by Ruth Jones
From the co-creator of the award-winning sitcom Gavin and Stacey
In the Scala Radio Book Club this week (Thursday 6th October), Richard Allinson chatted to Welsh actress, comedian and author, Ruth Jones, to chat about her brand-new novel Love Untold.
From the co-creator of the award-winning sitcom Gavin and Stacey, Ruth Jones’ third novel is a passionate and heart-warming story of mothers, daughters and final chances as nonagenarian Grace seeks to heal a decades-long family rift.
Grace is about to turn ninety. She doesn't want parties or presents or fuss. She just wants to heal the family rift that's been breaking her heart for decades. But to do that she must find her daughter Alys - the only person who can help to put things right.
If she does - she risks betraying granddaughter Elin. Who is far less forgiving of the past, with its hurts and secrets and lies. Meanwhile, Grace's great-granddaughter Beca is oblivious to all these worries, too busy navigating the highs and lows of teenage life and keeping secrets of her own.
All families have their problems. And most of them get resolved. But Grace's problem is thirty years old. And she doesn't have time on her side. So is it too late for her to make peace? Or is reconciliation still within reach?
Love Untold is about the heartache that comes from leaving things unsaid and the power of true forgiveness. It is a joy-filled, life-affirming, sob-inducing novel - with characters you'll come to know and love.
Richard was interested to know more about the lead character in the novel, Grace.
‘So, Grace lives in West Wales and she’s a very fit nonagenarian,’ said Ruth. ‘She does yoga, she walks, she cooks meals from scratch, and she goes swimming in the sea. It’s funny, because when I told my mum, who’s 86, that this 90-year-old character goes swimming in the sea, she said, “well that’s absolutely ridiculous, no one will believe that!” I wanted to have a strong female character leading this family. It’s a multi-generational story, with a big rift that Grace wants to heal.’
Richard asked, ‘Do you have more than one project on the go at any one time, or do you like to focus on just one thing?’
‘I recently was thinking back to when I filmed the TV series Stella. I co-wrote and co-created Stella. The first series was ten episodes, and we would film a block for four weeks, and then have a week off. In those weeks off, I did a chat show. Everybody else was flying off to Majorca, or going on a Buddhist retreat, and I was doing a chat show! I don’t know how on earth I did it, and I do feel now as I get older, I focus on one thing at a time.’
Richard wanted to know more about Ruth’s career as a writer. ‘When you started your career, and you were acting and performing in theatre, how long did you think it would take for you to become an overnight success, and did you think the writing would be as big a part of your career as it is?’
‘I think I had an award for Best Comedy Newcomer when I’d just turned 40,’ Ruth laughed. ‘I’d love to be 40, I’m in my mid-50s now! I’m not a very good planner. I do tend to just go along with what happens at the time. I got into novel writing purely by accident. I’d being doing a lot of filming, and I’d taken myself off for a little break. I went to this spa hotel, and I was looking through my laptop at old projects, and I found this screenplay of Never Greener that I’d written, around 15 years before. I read it and thought that the screenplay wasn’t very good, but the story was great. So as a labour of love I started writing that as prose fiction, and I got really into it. So I did sort of stumble into writing a novel, and I’ve enjoyed it ever since.’
Richard finished the interview, with the all-important question, ‘I’ve got to ask about Gavin and Stacey. Will we ever see any of them again?’
‘The series Gavin and Stacey finished in 2010, and then we didn’t do the special until 2019, so there was almost a 10-year gap between the two. I’m always getting into a lot of trouble because I just don’t know what to say anymore when people ask me that question! The God’s honest truth is that I do not know - I’m not a fortune teller - I don’t know!’
Find out about more Scala Radio Book Club guests here >>
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