Denise has her own experience of toxic relationships but is an instantly enthusiastic supporter of Ted’s dream offering much needed emotional and practical assistance to help him achieve it. Along the way we meet Ted’s family, his best friend Denise Love and a wonderfully interesting and knowledgeable character Stanley Openshaw. It's a tale of self discovery and emancipation, but it's also deals with a subject with which I am personally extremely fascinated; internalised homophobia. I delighted in the becoming of Ted, it was a true feel good story, courageous and heartwarming and although at times my heart broke for him, rest assured it repaired itself by the end of the book!

In 2021, The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle was published by Headline, Becoming Ted followed in 2023, and One Love is set for release in January 2024. You may have noticed that in the last paragraph I said “we were told these characters were in” rather than saying shown. I think Matt Cain very much has a certain writing style and going off this book, it's absolutely not for me. 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.Matt Cain tackles shame, compassion and self-acceptance beautifully in Becoming Ted, which will come as no surprise to people who've read The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle. Sometimes good people do bad things and sometimes we have to decide whether what they've done is a dealbreaker or worthy of forgiveness. Becoming Ted opens on Ted Ainsworth's husband leaving him, and causing confusion to seep into his life.

Zijn reis naar geluk is verrassend, hij blijkt vol grote dromen en verlangens te zitten, hij krijgt hier en daar een liefdevol duwtje in de goede richting, hij wordt aangemoedigd, beseft steeds beter dat hij er mag zijn en hij durft zich verder open te stellen zodra hij zijn zelfvertrouwen hervindt. His parents, his sister and his best friend, Denise all try to provide emotional support and distraction. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to provide an unbiased review. Sadly, these few worthwhile and notable parts could not be saved from the abysmal and less than appealing way in which it was written. 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.But with the main character being in his 40s, it's extremely refreshing that we're not just hearing from 18 year olds on the subject. We get a front row seat into Ted’s life, experiencing a devastating breakup from a long time emotionally abusive parter and watching him spin the negative by exploring parts of life he was always too afraid, scared or discouraged from doing. Characters who have been living in the shadows of others for years, who have major trauma and baggage weighing them down, who struggle to accept themselves, who have been taught to hate themselves, who have long standing struggles with their relationships — these characters just suddenly resolve to overcome whatever is holding them down and turn over a new leaf.

It's addressed that Oskar has internalised homophobia, but his actions because of it don't feel consistent. The story is almost a coming of age story, with our main character having been repressed by a partner who didn't appreciate or nurture him in the way he deserved. I loved seeing how he was brave enough to challenge himself - to put himself first for a change - to have the confidence to go for it. This was extremely annoying, and totally not how people think – it just felt so unnatural, and leads back to the passive, telling-not-showing writing style from before. At the very least would he not feel guilty and want to assuage his own conscience by being nice to poor Ted?The dialogue shared by the characters is fluid and realistic, and the hilarious, observational humour and laugh-out-loud one-liners throughout the book are pure comedy gold.

It's the same for Oskar's sudden switch of supporting Ted doing drag, to saying he doesn't like it and that he wants Ted to stop, to then supporting him again. Becoming Ted is a refreshing addition to the growing collection of coming-of-age / finding-oneself queer novels, and a much needed addition at that. I confess Ted’s dream took me into a world I knew little about, not being familar with the TV programme he and his best friend Denise enjoy watching over a glass (or four) of ‘seccy’. If they are each to find happiness, they must both make changes to their lives and put themselves first. We are definitely a lot safer and more accepted than in many places around the world, but things could still be a lot better than what they are today.I mean, I can not understand when a statement is issued calmly by his father, why are you going to use he boomed and she shrieked? And what you learn by the time you get to my age is that there are all kinds of reasons good people do bad things. year-old Ted Ainsworth has worked in his family's ice-cream business, in the quiet Lancashire town of St Luke's-on-Sea, for his whole life.