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

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I know there are people out there who will deeply relate to Ted, and I'm glad this book exists for them, but it very much feels like Matt Cain is simply writing what he knows from also being a middle-aged white gay man from Lancashire. 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. But I pulled all of those (except for tweets, which stuck out to me so badly that it became locked in my mind) from the first 50ish pages. Giles was by far the most unlikable (well actually Karl is) but then again he has some redeeming qualities and Yhh… read it to see why I don’t hate hate him. To say it was overkill is putting it lightly, and yet it makes me wonder if it was intentionally done this way to show in a satirical manner at how similar humans are to animals.

There is plenty of internal dialogue and angst between the pages and it helps us get into the mind of each character. Quick fire shout out to these other great characters: Alison, Marina, Mick, Peg Legge, Pussy Squat, Mick and Andrzej too. Massive thank you to NetGalley and Headline publishing house for accepting me as a pre-publication reviewer. What was much more egregious was the multiple times characters would think about something that happened in their past — and then not elaborate on that thought at all, because it is not time for the reader to know that important information. Ruth Hogan Becoming Ted is the story of an ordinary man's journey to fulfil his extraordinary dream.

The book also focuses on acceptance in other ways, and I thought Oskar and Andrzej's stories were depicted incredibly well in this regard, though they are of course very sad. Sometimes good people do bad things and sometimes we have to decide whether what they've done is a dealbreaker or worthy of forgiveness. Ted’s blossoming into the person he was always meant to be is, of course, the main focus of the narrative, but Oskar is given a reasonable amount of screen time as well to work on his issues around self-acceptance. 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. I've previously read The Madonna of Bolton and Albert Entwistle, the former of which I enjoyed, but wasn't blown away by and the latter was just one of a favourite books of recent times.

Toch zal hij zijn leven opnieuw moeten opbouwen wanneer Giles hem na ruim 20 jaar samen verlaat voor een ander en al zijn zekerheden als een kaartenhuis in elkaar storten. Denise, however, really isn’t; her character arc is established near the beginning of the story through comments about a series of bad relationships and her swearing off love altogether, but it doesn’t come back up again until we’re half way through the book, and not many pages overall are dedicated to her solving her specific issue. Emotional abuse, infidelity, friendships, marriage breakdowns and parental pressure, along with the issue of how sadly homophobia is still prevalent in some countries, play huge roles within Ted’s story. Would it not make much more sense that he fell out of love with Ted (“we had some good times but I’ve fallen for someone else”) rather than suggesting that their relationship was (and always was) meaningless. We are transported to a whole new POV and some of it is very hard hitting, Oskar’s story in particular.Finally he gains the courage - with the help of many great people in his life - to pursue his dream of becoming a drag queen and fully comprehend his (dull, reserved and unauthentic) life before. This is something I really like in stories, and I think it was done well here, as we were continuously shown relevant scenes that inform Ted’s current fears or worries. Even though the main story is about Ted realising who he really is inside and his journey to achieving his dream, there are some very important side stories too. However, I now have the perfect example of what “telling” is in writing, as Matt Cain never lets me see through Ted’s eyes and feel what Ted is feeling; instead, I am told what he does, what he feels, what he thinks, and asked to believe this as truth. And he realizes that Denise is right—the breakup of his marriage has given him an opportunity to make some changes.

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. I grew up in Southport, and reading about Ted's surroundings transported me back to my childhood home, adding some nostalgia for me. I hope I explained this well and understandable but like once again this was super great and I just loved how we sort of got these other views and then more insight into these characters lives) Ted is so likeable, he’s sweet and kind, funny, just great and you feel for him so much. 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. 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.Will this destroy him, or will this be an opportunity for him to grab life by the horns and be the person. He keeps himself to himself, his only happiness for the moment being his bicycle rides together with his determination to learn a new English word every day. 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. Sadly, these few worthwhile and notable parts could not be saved from the abysmal and less than appealing way in which it was written. And it's not that I didn't mind the different ways it was not used, it's just that some alternative choices were so poorly applied, it completely took me out of the actual scene!

I was spending more time noting how many different ways the human voice is used, rather than appreciating the writing, itself!Chapters do not flow together seamlessly; in fact, there is a jump between each chapter where some amount of time has passed. It didn't seem that the narrator was from the north west of England, however, speaking as someone who is, I think he did an excellent job of conveying the accent in a believable and not just a comic way. Because we are told what they are doing, what they are thinking, what they are feeling — but we aren’t shown it. These characters challenge the reader to consider their own biases: whether they treat people differently if they speak in 'broken' english, despite likely not knowing any other languages themselves; whether they make an effort to listen and get to know people who they come across that have different backgrounds and experiences in life, and; whether they care enough to truly learn about others, and make them feel welcome in our societies.