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jennakarol's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
nls28's review against another edition
3.0
It's a beautiful and heart breaking love tringle. You have so many emotions while reading this, towards the three. But when it all comes to the end, it ends perfectly I think. I would definitely recommend. It's a rollercoaster of emotions, a women stuck in her time and man who when he has to choose a easy life or the love of his life.. he chooses what he believes will help him.
rebecanunez's review against another edition
2.0
"My Policeman" de Bethan Roberts es una novela conmovedora que explora la complejidad de las relaciones y los desafíos impuestos por las normas sociales. Publicada en 2012, la historia está ambientada en la década de 1950 en Inglaterra y sigue la vida de los personajes principales, Marion y Tom, en un contexto de represión y discriminación.
La trama se desarrolla en torno a la relación entre Marion y Tom, un oficial de policía. Sin embargo, Tom oculta su verdadera identidad y orientación sexual debido a las restricciones de la época. La historia se complica aún más con la entrada de Patrick, un conservador de museo, desencadenando un triángulo amoroso que lleva a los personajes a enfrentarse a las expectativas de la sociedad y sus propios deseos.
Roberts captura hábilmente la atmósfera opresiva de la década de 1950, donde la homosexualidad era ilegal y estaba estigmatizada. A través de una narración emotiva, la autora explora los desafíos emocionales y las luchas internas de los personajes al vivir en un mundo que no acepta su verdadera identidad.
Los personajes están magistralmente desarrollados, cada uno con sus matices y complejidades. La autenticidad de sus relaciones y la sinceridad con la que enfrentan las dificultades resuenan a lo largo de la novela. Marion, en particular, se destaca como un personaje que lucha por la aceptación y la comprensión en un entorno que tiende a rechazar la diversidad.
La prosa de Roberts es evocadora y rica en detalles, transportando a los lectores a la Inglaterra de los años 50. La historia se narra desde múltiples perspectivas, proporcionando una visión completa y conmovedora de los eventos a medida que se desarrollan.
"My Policeman" no solo es una historia de amor prohibido, sino también un comentario reflexivo sobre la discriminación y la represión de la identidad en la sociedad. Bethan Roberts aborda temas universales de amor, pérdida y autenticidad con sensibilidad y profundidad, creando una obra que deja una impresión duradera en sus lectores.
La trama se desarrolla en torno a la relación entre Marion y Tom, un oficial de policía. Sin embargo, Tom oculta su verdadera identidad y orientación sexual debido a las restricciones de la época. La historia se complica aún más con la entrada de Patrick, un conservador de museo, desencadenando un triángulo amoroso que lleva a los personajes a enfrentarse a las expectativas de la sociedad y sus propios deseos.
Roberts captura hábilmente la atmósfera opresiva de la década de 1950, donde la homosexualidad era ilegal y estaba estigmatizada. A través de una narración emotiva, la autora explora los desafíos emocionales y las luchas internas de los personajes al vivir en un mundo que no acepta su verdadera identidad.
Los personajes están magistralmente desarrollados, cada uno con sus matices y complejidades. La autenticidad de sus relaciones y la sinceridad con la que enfrentan las dificultades resuenan a lo largo de la novela. Marion, en particular, se destaca como un personaje que lucha por la aceptación y la comprensión en un entorno que tiende a rechazar la diversidad.
La prosa de Roberts es evocadora y rica en detalles, transportando a los lectores a la Inglaterra de los años 50. La historia se narra desde múltiples perspectivas, proporcionando una visión completa y conmovedora de los eventos a medida que se desarrollan.
"My Policeman" no solo es una historia de amor prohibido, sino también un comentario reflexivo sobre la discriminación y la represión de la identidad en la sociedad. Bethan Roberts aborda temas universales de amor, pérdida y autenticidad con sensibilidad y profundidad, creando una obra que deja una impresión duradera en sus lectores.
femmied_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
jovtom's review against another edition
2.0
no plot just tom, that's sort of the summary of this book.
i think this story had way more potential. two gay men in the 50s, one of them an artist who wants to live authentically and the other a policeman who's all too concerned with society's expectations and rules and wants to protect himself by getting married. enter - his sister's childhood friend who's had a life long crush on him. so it becomes a story about a married couple and the husband's lover. interesting, right! no.
unfortunately i thought it was poorly executed. we get marion and patrick's perspectives, and the story pretty much revolves around how attracted they are to tom. which, if he actually looks like harry styles, i understand. there's no nuance or depth to any of the characters and it's hard to connect to them or care. marion and tom are also really annoying. also, i feel like it would be way better if we also saw tom's perspective.
it could have been such a good exploration of homophobia and internalized homophobia, patriarchy, extramarital affairs and society in the 50s. instead, it was about how everyone is in love with tom because he's oh so beautiful. alright. it needed to go much deeper to really pack a punch, but it just stayed completely surface level. though it is full of incredibly detailed descriptions of things no one cares about.
the ending was very touching though!! they're finally alone
i think this story had way more potential. two gay men in the 50s, one of them an artist who wants to live authentically and the other a policeman who's all too concerned with society's expectations and rules and wants to protect himself by getting married. enter - his sister's childhood friend who's had a life long crush on him. so it becomes a story about a married couple and the husband's lover. interesting, right! no.
unfortunately i thought it was poorly executed. we get marion and patrick's perspectives, and the story pretty much revolves around how attracted they are to tom. which, if he actually looks like harry styles, i understand. there's no nuance or depth to any of the characters and it's hard to connect to them or care. marion and tom are also really annoying. also, i feel like it would be way better if we also saw tom's perspective.
it could have been such a good exploration of homophobia and internalized homophobia, patriarchy, extramarital affairs and society in the 50s. instead, it was about how everyone is in love with tom because he's oh so beautiful. alright. it needed to go much deeper to really pack a punch, but it just stayed completely surface level. though it is full of incredibly detailed descriptions of things no one cares about.
the ending was very touching though!! they're finally alone
kadijaaa's review against another edition
4.0
best reading experience i’ve ever had… i started this book in brighton (where the book is set) and walked by the little places mentioned by marion and then a month later i watched the movie at tiff and loved it so so much and having seen the characters on screen made me enjoy the story even more
only thing that kinda sucked was that it started of SLOOWW and had little dialogue but besides that i really liked it
only thing that kinda sucked was that it started of SLOOWW and had little dialogue but besides that i really liked it
literarycrushes's review against another edition
4.0
My Policeman by Bethan Roberts was a beautiful and heart-breaking retelling of three intersecting lives in the 1950s in Brighton, England. I could call it a love triangle, but that’s not quite accurate. I could compare it to Lauren Groff’s Fates & Furies as it did have aspects of a marriage shattered by the truth many years later, but the story is more layered than that.
Set during a time when being queer was still an arrestable offense, the novel follows three characters, Marion and Patrick, and the object of their mutual affection, Tom. It is written from the alternate perspectives of Marion and Patrick from the perspective of 1999 - forty years later, primarily as they fawn over Tom. I was immediately drawn into the story by Marion, a quiet girl who has been in love with Tom, her best friend’s brother, since the day she met him. Her love is patient (if somewhat unbelievably so) as she waits neatly a decade for him to notice her. Meanwhile, Patrick, an older, cultured museum curator, meets Tom in town in the line of Tom’s policework. They strike up an instant friendship (through the eyes of Patrick we know it is immediately romantic, though whether Tom catches on or not is unclear). What follows is the story of desire, love, and betrayal.
It’s a quiet story, and even the final *plot twist* was somewhat anticlimactic. I liked Marion’s character, particularly in the first half of the novel as she describes growing up, and the rebellious-for-the-times decision to become a schoolteacher rather than a housewife. The most interesting parts were following Patrick around Brighton as he is forced to live life so carefully as not to arouse any suspicions about his queerness. I especially enjoyed following him around the hidden-in-plain-sight queer nightlife and the shame and joy that accompanies it. Patrick’s character always felt stiff to me, though this might have been a deliberate choice to reinforce how planned and careful one would have had to act then. Still, when reading his chapters, it felt like he only had a few character traits which were just repeated over and over with slightly different words or situations.
I’ll be excited to see the film adaptation of the novel starring Harry Styles (as Tom!) out next year. Looking at the film’s imdb page for the movie, it seems like they’ll be adding more characters to the script!
(3.5 rounded up)
Set during a time when being queer was still an arrestable offense, the novel follows three characters, Marion and Patrick, and the object of their mutual affection, Tom. It is written from the alternate perspectives of Marion and Patrick from the perspective of 1999 - forty years later, primarily as they fawn over Tom. I was immediately drawn into the story by Marion, a quiet girl who has been in love with Tom, her best friend’s brother, since the day she met him. Her love is patient (if somewhat unbelievably so) as she waits neatly a decade for him to notice her. Meanwhile, Patrick, an older, cultured museum curator, meets Tom in town in the line of Tom’s policework. They strike up an instant friendship (through the eyes of Patrick we know it is immediately romantic, though whether Tom catches on or not is unclear). What follows is the story of desire, love, and betrayal.
It’s a quiet story, and even the final *plot twist* was somewhat anticlimactic. I liked Marion’s character, particularly in the first half of the novel as she describes growing up, and the rebellious-for-the-times decision to become a schoolteacher rather than a housewife. The most interesting parts were following Patrick around Brighton as he is forced to live life so carefully as not to arouse any suspicions about his queerness. I especially enjoyed following him around the hidden-in-plain-sight queer nightlife and the shame and joy that accompanies it. Patrick’s character always felt stiff to me, though this might have been a deliberate choice to reinforce how planned and careful one would have had to act then. Still, when reading his chapters, it felt like he only had a few character traits which were just repeated over and over with slightly different words or situations.
I’ll be excited to see the film adaptation of the novel starring Harry Styles (as Tom!) out next year. Looking at the film’s imdb page for the movie, it seems like they’ll be adding more characters to the script!
(3.5 rounded up)