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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. Someone willing to take chances on new friendships, and even new love. Someone brave enough to pursue his long-held secret dream of becoming a drag queen—and adopting a funny, fierce, and indomitable alter ego who'll help him overturn everyone's expectations, especially his own ...
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
June 4, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9798892731133
- File size: 309664 KB
- Duration: 10:45:07
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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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.
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