Becoming Ted: The joyful and uplifting novel from the author of The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle

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His dream is to do interior design: he sees the potential in every place he passes; but for now, he’s outfitting the new vegan café on St Lukes High Street. Ted is happily married to Giles (or so he thinks) but when his heart is broken, he must find a way to live his own life and follow his own dreams, dreams which have been put aside by feelings of duty and of not feeling good enough. We have three points of view, the story is mainly told from Ted's POV but we also get some from his best friend, Denise, who is going through her own issues. Becoming Ted is a glorious read, a story of identity and belonging, of friendship and love — it’s a touching, joyous, heartwarming hug-in-a-book.

He is a people pleaser, stuck under the shadow of his parents, the responsibilities of his family business, and the expectations of a husband who doesn't really love him for who he is. At forty-three, Ted Ainsworth feels incredibly lucky to be married to enthralling, charismatic Giles, so when, after twenty years together, Giles says it’s over, Ted is understandably devastated. What I did think was more on the bad side of Cain’s writing choices was something that was brought up by another reviewer: he overcompensates his lack of adherence to the “show, don’t tell rule” by leaning heavily into the “don’t use said” rule. Many thanks to the author, narrator, publisher, NetGalley and The Pigeonhole for a copy of this book.In this respect I was in a similar position to Oskar, a young Polish man, who is on his own personal journey. Both are fabulous characters, quite different in temperament with Ted trying to find the courage to make changes to follow his life’s dream and also finding his self worth after being made to feel a support act in an apparently rather toxic relationship. From here, Ted goes on a journey of self discovery, as although he is grieving for Giles, he is now able to be himself, and be true to who his character really is. Society tends to tell us more about what we can't do, or what we shouldn't do, and overcoming this sort of conditioning is no easy feat. Becoming Ted centres on Ted Ainsworth, a 43 year-old ice cream maker from a fictional seaside town in Lancashire.

All in all I had a super fun time with this book and I feel the need to own a physical copy which I intend to purchase at my earliest opportunity. First and foremost, thank you NetGalley and John Scognamiglio Books / Kensington Books for the Advance Readers Copy. Retired gentleman’s outfitter, Stanley Openshaw sadly confides that his fellow residents are disappointingly homophobic. Denise and Ted had a very strong friendship and I enjoyed how very supportive she was of him and his desire to perform.Ted Ainsworth has always worked at his family’s ice cream business in the quiet Lancashire town of St Luke’s-on-Sea. It's addressed that Oskar has internalised homophobia, but his actions because of it don't feel consistent. That was a *very* short summary and there’s a *lot* more that goes on, sub-plots and character storylines but I so wholeheartedly 1000% recommend picking this book up I don’t want to spoil anything and Yhh, you need to experience it first hand I think to truly get the most out of this book.

I feel that we’re not given enough time with her to understand her pain (her whole backstory comes out in the span of three pages around page 220) and to really feel happy for her resolution. Ted and his husband Giles separate and it starts a shift in Ted, he realizes he has to find out who he REALLY is, without a husband.Born in Bury and brought up in Bolton, Matt now lives in London with his husband, Harry, and their cat, Nelly. My enemy with Matt Cain was the writing and the choices made to make this story stand out in a positive light, rather than the unsavory results that it garnered for me. Unfortunately he doesn’t even like ice cream – he never has although he has never voiced this to his family (whose motto is ‘Family First’) – guilt and duty keeping him silent. It's how these three lives intertwine, how on their path of a hopeful future and positive outset on life, that made it worth seeing how their stories would unfold. His best friend, the flamboyant Andrea, is determined to help Ted - she hasn't forgotten that he once helped her through her worst time.