Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

Becoming Ted

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
A charmingly joyful, surprising story about love, acceptance, and self-expression from the acclaimed author of The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle. Fans of the musical "Kinky Boots" and Byron Lane's Big Gay Wedding will have their hearts stolen by Becoming Ted!
If Ted Ainsworth were to compare himself to one of the ice cream flavors made by his family's company, famous throughout his sleepy Lancashire hometown, it might be vanilla—sweet, inoffensive, and pleasantly predictable. At forty-three, Ted is convinced there's nothing remotely remarkable about him, except perhaps his luck in having landed handsome, charismatic Giles as a husband.
Then Giles suddenly leaves him for another man, filling his social media feed with posts about #newlove and adventure. And Ted, who has spent nearly twenty years living with, and often for, another person, must reimagine the future he has happily taken for granted.
But perhaps there is another Ted slowly blossoming now that he's no longer in Giles's shadow—funny, sassy, more uninhibited. Someone willing to take chances on new friendships, and even new love. Someone who's been waiting in the wings too long, but who's about to dust off a long-ago secret dream and overturn everyone's expectations of him—especially his own. . .
  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      December 1, 2023

      Briton Cain's U.S. debut, The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle, was an Indie Next Pick and a LibraryReads selection. Here he offers another charmer that finds predictable 43-year-old Ted Ainsworth reimagining his life and taking new chances on friendship--and maybe even love--after his husband leaves him for another man. Prepub Alert.

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 22, 2024
      British journalist Cain (The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle) serves up a breezy second-act story that traces a 40-something gay man’s unlikely journey to drag stardom. After nearly 20 years spent with the snobbish Giles in the quaint English town of St. Luke’s-on-Sea, Ted Ainsworth discovers one morning that his husband has been cheating on him. They break up in a flash, and Ted is left reeling—he dodges messages from his best friend Denise and sulks through shifts at one of his family’s ice cream parlors. When he regains his footing, he decides to pursue his long-dormant dream of becoming a drag queen. It’s a big leap from his previous life (Giles discouraged him from dancing or dressing up), but with Denise’s help, Ted constructs the leggy, foul-mouthed alter-ego Gail Force. Meanwhile, he frets about his disinterest in running the family business, and is further troubled by a series of threatening anonymous letters. After he falls for secretly gay Polish construction worker Oskar, Ted wonders if his new flame will support his drag ambitions. There’s too much padding—Ted’s angst about his lifelong distaste for ice cream is especially overplayed—but Cain constructs a soothing if familiar tale of self-empowerment. This sticky-sweet confection goes down smooth enough. Agent: Sophie Lambert, C&W.

    • Kirkus

      May 1, 2024
      In a small English coastal town, a gay man has a midlife renaissance. When his husband of almost 20 years leaves him for another man, Ted Ainsworth feels bereft. Giles was the sun around which he orbited. The genuine support of Ted's well-meaning parents is undercut by their desire for him to take over the family ice cream business, which is foundering in the wake of Covid-19. One of Ted's closely held secrets is that he doesn't even like ice cream. Another is his love of performing and all things camp, which Giles routinely belittled. When Ted's mom signs him up for a dance class at the community center, this love is reawakened, and with the encouragement of his best friend, Denise (a makeup artist), he decides to try something he's always wanted to do: drag. Some research, some shopping, and some practice walking in heels, and soon Gail Force is born. But Ted is still cautious. He's terrified to tell his parents, fearing that acceptance of his homosexuality is the maximum they can offer, and feeling torn between his duty to the family business and an absolute lack of interest in it. Also, he has a new beau, Oskar Kozlowski, who is sweet but traumatized by growing up in Poland, where he could not be out. If that wasn't enough to balance, Ted begins receiving mysterious letters that claim to know unsavory details about his father, a subplot that comes out of left field. Some chapters are from Oskar's or Denise's perspective but, no matter the character, the third-person writing is sprinkled with first-person thoughts, which feel a bit on the nose. A warning, as well, that fatphobia runs unchecked through the book. Outside of that, Ted is a sympathetic character who emerges into his new life taking two steps forward and one step back. Sweet, detailed, and heartwarming.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Loading