Catrin, Judith and Lana have been best friends since they were 5 years old when they swore an oath on a curly wurly wrapper that they would always be there for each other, come what may!
The three girls have such different personalities. Catrin, the sensible and sensitive girl brought up by devout Catholic parents, Judith the smart, ambitious one who hasn't had an easy upbringing and wild child Lana who inspires to make it big as an actress.
Throughout the book we see the girls grow from primary school kids, to secondary school graduates embarking on their pre university holiday to Greece to fully grown women with husbands and kids. Their friendship is tested to the limits very early on and we see them take on some of lifes most heart breaking moments together.
I love the sense of nostalgia in this book, the friendship and love between the characters and the beautiful style of writing makes it sure to be another bestseller for Ruth Jones.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I don’t like the genre women’s fiction, it’s a nothing genre, but this was a tale of friendship between three people who happened to be women.
A story of how childhood friendships develop and adapt into adulthood and it isn’t romantic or poetic, it’s the bonds that are told in moving stories that entwine these three women.

I’m not sure the writing style is really my favourite and it’s not a type of story I jump to read but the book was enjoyable, fun, true to itself and heartbreaking. It’s definitely worth a read if you like life drama stories, there’s no twists and turns and massive plot twists, it’s just a tale of friendship.

What a wonderful book!!
This book is so well written and had me hooked. I was thinking about the characters when not reading it!
I particularly enjoyed the fact that the story moves along from when the girls are young, detailing what happens in each of their lives and the different paths it takes them on. Some books flit back and forth between time periods, but this was much more enjoyable to have the story of their lives flow through the book, keeping you reading to see what happens next.
Totally enjoyable and I'm sad I have finished it!! Would highly, highly recommend. My new favourite author!

I love Ruth Jones' TV work so requested this book to review It's the first book of hers I've read and it was an easy though engrossing read where we follow plausible, everyday characters through periods of their lives and their shared friendship. Heartwarming and with a lot of realism.

This is an uplifting, feel good and funny book with some sorrow that you definitely won’t want to put down. I haven’t read anything by Ruth Jones before so I didn’t know what to expect. I enjoyed this book so much, and I think any woman of a certain age will be able to identify with this book. When we all start to step into adulthood, feeling the we can conquer the world and that there are endless possibilities. As we get older though, our lives don’t always turn out as we expected them to when we were younger.

We follow the lives of Lana Lloyd, Judith Harris & Catrin Kelly, who met at primary school. Which is when they all pledged an oath over a Curly Wurly wrapper to be there for each other forever no matter what.

As the girls grow older and just as they are about to finish their A Levels. They all decide to go on a travelling holiday hopping from one Greek Island to another. They put a lot in to planning this holiday and as they are about to leave it looks like Judith wont be able to go. While Catrin and Lana are waiting in the airport lounge Judith turns up with Gareth Lana’s boyfriend. He saw Judith waiting at a bus stop and offered to take her to the airport. The girls were ecstatic as they were all together again.

While they are on holiday, Catrin falls in love and meets the man she’s going to marry Solomon Blythe. Judith finds out that her step father still has family in Cyprus. When the girls all go to the small village that he grew up in. They end up spending the rest of their time in Cyprus with her extended family. Until it’s time for them to go on to Athens. On their last night in Athens Lana sleeps with an Irish builder she met in a bar, who’s name she can’t remember. Which Catrin and Judith aren’t happy about because means they have to keep a big secret from Gareth.

When they get home from their holiday things don’t go well for Judith. On entering her bedroom she sees that her mother has packed all of he things, along with a note telling her to take her things and that she is no longer welcome there. So she ends staying with the Kelly family until she goes off to university. A few days after staying with the Kelly’s a letter comes through the post from her father telling her that he loves her, but he had to leave and that she needs to look after herself.

The girls just start to settle in to their new collages and university, when Judith has to go back home to look after her mother. Due to this Lana decides that Judith and Gareth should become flat mates. As Judith can’t live with her mother and Lana thinks Gareth could use the company with her being away. Neither of them are particularly happy about this, but they both agree to give it a go.

Lana ends up having a huge shock, when the guy she had one night with in Athens turns up. He has come over from Ireland to work on a big building project. Lana ends up having an affair with him and Gareth ends up finding out. He then finds comfort with Judith and they end up becoming a couple. As they both realise that they have been growing closer and closer together in the time they have been living together.

A little bit down the line Catrin and Solomon get married and Judith and Lana have a spectacular falling out in front of the guests. This falling out lasts for a couple of decades, which always leaves Catrin in the middle. As they both refuse to be in the same place at the same time.

Will Judith and Lana finally start to rebuild their friendship to help Catrin when her life is devastated with loss? Who knows?

Quote: "Catrin Kelly, Judith Harris, Lana Lloyd! Fell into a muddy ditch and got annoyed, All their clothes they were a-smellin’ So they went back to Coed Celyn Catrin Kelly, Judith Harris, Lana Lloyd!"

As I said before I’ve never read anything by Ruth Jones and I’m looking forward to seeing what she writes next.

This book was brilliant, it was broken down into three parts and told the lives of 3 friends from school through to growing up. It took you through the highs and lows of their lives. It was literally packed full of everything you can imagine someone going through – but there are three times as many! I read Ruth Jones first book and didn’t doubt that this would be just as good.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Ruth Jones novel writing is very enjoyable and like her TV characters the characters in this novel are full of life but are flawed making them likable and relatable. A light hearted novel, beautifully written. My thanks to Net galley, the publishers and the author for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review

I would not expect anything less than a well written novel from Ruth Jones and I was not disappointed. The writing was excellent, the characters were well drawn and their life experiences were believable and I felt engaged and interested in them all. As you would expect there was humour but also sadness and drama. I cared about each of the three girls and was fascinated by their difficult relationship with themselves, their families and each other.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Ruth Jones/Random House UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed following the lives of the three main characters and seeing how their stories evolved, but I had different levels of interest in them. I felt that the character of Lana was much more interesting than the other two and would have liked to have seen more of her. Although all three lives were covered, I thought there was more focus on Judith, who was the character I liked least. I thought the narrative developed well but the ending was a little predictable, except for the death of a character, which I didn’t see coming. I did like the flashback!
All in all, I’d recommend this book as an enjoyable, relaxing and engaging read - perfect for the summer holidays!

Lana, Catrin and Judith are best friends. They’ve been best friends since primary school and they are off on holiday before each starting university and their adult lives. But can their friendship stay the same in the face of adversity?

I chose this book because I rate Ruth Jones very highly as a screen writer (Fat Friends, Gavin and Stacey, Stella). Her novel writing isn’t quite as slick as her screen writing, but it is still very enjoyable. Like her TV characters, the novel characters are full of life and heart and flaws, but this is what makes them likeable, all-rounders. Whilst reading the book, I often heard Nessa reading the lines in her very Welsh accent!

A tear-jerker, it has a twist at the end that I didn’t see until it was on top of me. A lovely story of friendship and human nature, a lovely read.

I have followed Ruths TV career for years but not ventured into her literacy career and boy oh boy did it live up. I Spoiler alert - I absolutely loved this book. "Us Three" is thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing from start to finish. Ruth created wildly different characters that just leapt off the page. Highly recommend.

My first read by Ruth Jones and I wasn’t disappointed. In the story we follow the lives of three friends, though all of their ups and downs over fifty years.

there are some great characters who I found to be realistic and who I could relate to easily. I really enjoyed reading this lighthearted story and will be looking to read more of this authors work in the future.

My favourite style of novel; three women whom we follow through the years with all their ups and downs. A fabulous treat!

Lana, Judith and Catrin became friends at five years old and at the end of their school days they plan to head off to travel around the Greek islands before heading their own separate ways to university. This is their story.

I feel as if I opened this book and it just swallowed me up! I adore books about multiple friendships and this is absolutely one of the best I've read with a pinch of sadness, family life, and so much fun along the way (Father O'Leary, take a bow). I have drawn in sharp breaths, giggled and reached for tissues whilst engrossed in this story; in fact, I've just added the author's first novel to my list. I already knew that Ruth Jones could write awesome scripts for tv and, take it from me, she is every bit as gifted at producing a very readable novel. This is beautifully written, smoothly flowing all the way through and shows a real understanding of the characters. Completely unpredictable and so thoroughly satisfying. Completely worth a full house of five twinkling stars and a hearty recommendation.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; as always, this is my honest, original and unbiased review.

Us three is a warm, bighearted,uplifting novel of friendship that makes you nostalgic for those days when your future held so many possibilities,life was exciting and you couldn’t wait for your chance to venture out into the world, untethered from constraints of family and school life ,still safe in the knowledge you had your best friends by your side.
Meet Catrin Kelly Judith Harris and Lana Lloyd best friends forever since primary school, their oath of loyalty sworn over a curly wurly wrapper. Originating from a small welsh village with the welsh dialect conjuring up visions of the much loved characters from Gavin and Stacey (sorry Ruth!) I easily lost my heart to these three girls, so tightly bonded in friendship. As they begin their life adventures island hopping in Greece I quickly became wrapped up in their separate journeys wishing I was part of their gang. Three very different characters but driven by one aim; to experience all that life has to offer whilst maintaining what they hope is a life long friendship. Catrin is destined for a career in medicine whilst Lana is dazzled by the bright lights of acting and Judith is likely to find a sensible job, staying true to character. I felt Catrin was the one that glues the three together so are they being naive in believing this friendship can stand the test of time? Can anything or anyone threaten the solid foundations upon which this friendship is built? Rocking this trio to the core, an unexpected bombshell (although glaringly obvious to the reader)does indeed do this, splitting their loyalties, fracturing the friendship and causing a division that possibly can never be healed.
Us three really got me thinking about the nature of female friendship whilst I journeyed through the years with Catrin,Judith and Lana,experiencing all their highs and lows. The importance and value of such relationships can never be undervalued or taken for granted, all the more poignant in these times when our social interaction is confined to the bare minimum. Sometimes friendships are only ever meant to be finite with people entering and leaving our lives for an infinite number of reasons. As people we change so much over the years but the triangular friendship in this novel spans decades, taking them from Wales to Greece and London. True to life, all three encounter many trials and tribulations, happy events and tragedies, often with miles separating them but it’s like they are inextricably linked by an umbilical cord of friendship which is continually tested and strained to the max. Ultimately this cord brings them back to their roots time and time again with marriage, christenings and funerals reuniting these wonderful characters. They may often be at odds with each other but somehow remain unwilling to admit their friendship is dead and buried. Infertility, motherhood, divorce, loss and bereavement are just some of the hurdles they face, mirroring reality, but their stories are told with such warmth and humour you can’t help but feel they’re not ready to throw in the towel just yet.
Every character added colour to narrative, with such diverse personalities fighting for attention and I can honestly say I loved every one of them even the irascible Patricia. Hardly the doting mother she provides one reason why Judith in particular needs her friendship with Catrin and Lana to survive. Lana adds a touch of sparkle and unpredictability whilst Catrin offers solidity and hope and bucketloads of love. With a great supporting cast of characters too numerous to mention, my favourite had to be George, Judith’s stepfather and man responsible for the Greek connections. His love for Judith is so touching, proving blood isn’t thicker than water, forging a place forever in her heart which her own mother struggles to do.
I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of friendship and love, with an ending that was incredibly hopeful and funny in equal measure. I absolutely loved the epilogue which brings you full circle, back to the beginning. I really hope this author decides to write a third novel as I was so impressed with Us Three. A perfect way to lift your spirits. My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read.

Lana, Judith and Catrin have been best friends since childhood. So rarely do friendships last the test of time and, in this book, we follow the journey of their friendship and the turn of events that impacts the lives of the three girls. This was the first of Ruth's novels that I have read and, once I had got past picturing Vanessa from Gavin and Stacey every time I read some of the Welsh colloquialisms, it was a very enjoyable read.

I'm not sure I would race out and buy another of her books, but if it was a reasonable price and I wanted an easy read, for a holiday or lazy weekend, then I would probably consider it.

What a lovely read of true friendship through the generations. Very likeable characters with a heartfelt storyline makes a very enjoyable read. If you enjoy family/friendship books then this is definitely recommended.

Thank you Random House and Netgalley.

Firstly thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a lovely story of female friendship over a period of fourth years. Ruth Jones writes brilliantly, although different than what I was expecting as whilst humorous this book is also quite emotional. I loved all the characters, each one of them had a distinctive voice.

All in all a very enjoyable read.

Having not read Ruth's first book (yet), I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I sure wasn't disappointed. She has such an amazing way of writing believable characters, you could imagine within your own circle of friends. This book has everything from friendship and fun to sadness and more. It's just wonderful.

A wonderful, heartwarming story of 3 girls who age 7 vow to be friends for ever
Lana the loud one, Judith the quiet one and Catrin the peacemaker
But life at 7 or 18 is very different as each finds their own way through the world
The one thing still connecting them is their little home town in Wales. Somewhere they can come back to over the years for laughter, weddings and funerals
Not all the time as friends but that’s what life does it changes each person in different ways
Ruth Wilson’s voice comes through this book and makes it personal this will be another best seller

I didn't think this was very engaging, and struggled to finish it. Shame, as she's a great woman! Maybe I'll give it another go. I think I was in the mood for less chick lit and more grit.