Teddy

A Novel

By: Emily Dunlay

Narrated by: Carlotta Brentan

Good Morning America Buzz Pick

“Effervescent and cool, Teddy is the perfect read if your trip to Capri gets canceled and your La Dolce Vita itch needs scratching.”—Washington Post

Lessons in Chemistry meets Mad Men in this wildly entertaining debut novel set in glamorous Rome, which follows the free-spirited wife of an American diplomat as she desperately tries to contain a scandal of her own making.

It is the summer of 1969 and Rome is awash with glamour and intrigue: the stars of Cinecittà are drinking and dancing along the paparazzo-lined Via Veneto, where royalty, American expats, and the occasional Russian spy rub shoulders.

Teddy Huntley Carlyle has just arrived in Italy from Dallas, Texas, eager for a fresh start with her new husband, a diplomat assigned to the American embassy. After years of “spoiling like old milk,” in the words of her controlling, politically-minded uncle, Teddy vows to turn over a new leaf. She will be the soul of discretion; she will be conservative, proper, and polite. She will be her most beautiful, luminous self, wearing the right clothes and the perfect lipstick, and she will be good. She will charm her husband’s colleagues at the embassy, and no one will have a word to say against her.

Teddy keeps her promise, more or less—until the Fourth of July, when her new life explodes as spectacularly as the colorful fireworks lighting the Roman sky over the embassy grounds. Now, Teddy is in the middle of a mess that even her powerful connections and impeccable manners can’t contain . . .

So much fun!

Loved this book! The details about both Dallas and Rome were enthralling. And the ending was the BEST!

The Minx!

This book transports you back to a different time. Teddy is a superficial minx.. No, I didn't care for her and that was one of the reasons that I enjoyed this book. The author did well in writing good dialogue and the descriptions were terrific, didn't weigh down the story. This book is unique, in a good way.

Good narrator, annoying main character

The book had so much potential but I found listening to hour after hour of bad choices and self inflicted misery tedious. I know that Teddy is meant to portray a woman who is a product of her time and situation but she is very unlikeable. It was hard to feel any sympathy for her and I disliked her destructive behaviour. Or maybe I was just missing the point.

Impulse control

The character of Teddy is quite fascinating. Her actions are like watching a train wreck. The story has an excellent sense of the time and place where her life implodes. Maybe the ending is a bit too easy, but I couldn’t help but root for her. Excellent narration.

Unlikable protagonist and minimal lame plot.

I rarely give bad reviews. But the interminable angsty repetitive internal dialogues constantly interrupted by irrelevant trivial digressions made this book painful to finish.