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dancingwithdelilah's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Violence
Moderate: Suicide attempt
pkc's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It’s interesting to read a book like this that’s effectively a slice of history from the perspective of those who were unlucky enough to live through and be directly affected by it. In this instance, the gross indecency act of 1885 is almost a tertiary watchman. It casts a pall across any happiness and opportunity that the characters in the book might hope to one day enjoy. The result is egregious bigotry, secrecy, and lies. The story follows Marion who meets her eponymous policeman - Tom, the brother of her best friend and falls instantly for him. Their relationship is complicated by the policeman’s relationship with Patrick - a museum curator. Their arrangement is uneasy and rocky and in the end can only lead to tragedy.
The story vacillates between Marion’s and Patrick’s perspective: the former reflecting on the events of her tumultuous marriage from the relative safety of 1999, while the latter’s perspective is told in the form of extensive diaries. The perspectives are beautifully woven together as events start to derail. I loved how Tom’s story was never told from his own perspective. It gives him the same air of unknowability that each narrator would experience as he retreated into his respective “other life.” Bethan Roberts’ writing is so skilled though that he is no less formed or sympathetic by the omission of his direct perspective
I found myself throughout abhorring the decisions made by the characters and felt anger throughout but ultimately, pity. The bulk of the story takes place in the late 1950s in Brighton, and while Brighton now proudly owns its title as the queer capital of Britain, at the time, it was as backwards as the rest of the country in its attitudes towards queer people, or “inverts”. The characters are placed in impossible decisions and face untenable quandaries in their pursuit of a happy and authentic life, wrestling between the ideal and the expected path.
This was an easy 5⭐️ and I’d recommend it to anyone. Some caution though, by its very nature it’s super bleak and infuriating from a 2024 vantage point.
The story vacillates between Marion’s and Patrick’s perspective: the former reflecting on the events of her tumultuous marriage from the relative safety of 1999, while the latter’s perspective is told in the form of extensive diaries. The perspectives are beautifully woven together as events start to derail. I loved how Tom’s story was never told from his own perspective. It gives him the same air of unknowability that each narrator would experience as he retreated into his respective “other life.” Bethan Roberts’ writing is so skilled though that he is no less formed or sympathetic by the omission of his direct perspective
I found myself throughout abhorring the decisions made by the characters and felt anger throughout but ultimately, pity. The bulk of the story takes place in the late 1950s in Brighton, and while Brighton now proudly owns its title as the queer capital of Britain, at the time, it was as backwards as the rest of the country in its attitudes towards queer people, or “inverts”. The characters are placed in impossible decisions and face untenable quandaries in their pursuit of a happy and authentic life, wrestling between the ideal and the expected path.
This was an easy 5⭐️ and I’d recommend it to anyone. Some caution though, by its very nature it’s super bleak and infuriating from a 2024 vantage point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Homophobia, and Grief
Moderate: Medical trauma, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Violence
pebal123's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I have never hated a main character more
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, and Toxic relationship
islamaunder21's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexism, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence
queerloras's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Outing, Blood, and Hate crime
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Classism, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I read this as part of my 12 books recommended by 12 friends challenge!
Started off slow and a bit overly descriptive for my taste but it picked up around page 60
I preferred Patrick’s POV chapters more because of the writing style! Marion’s chapters, especially in the beginning, were a bit overly descriptive. It slowed down the pacing making it harder for me to want to read the book.
We get chapters in both Marion’s POV and Patrick’s but we never hear from Tom. I thought this was an interesting way to tell the story but I kind of would have liked to hear how Tom felt and thought through all of this.
Overall a fantastically tragic story with complex characters!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Violence, and Outing
Moderate: Suicide, Gaslighting, Confinement, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Sexual content
Minor: Lesbophobia and Infertility
jennyg1234's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Why was this so good? Especially towards the end I was sucked in. I LOVE Marion and her story arch.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Violence
guyjoey86's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Overall a really nice book but just wished there were more poc especially woc but I understand it was set in the 60s or around that time when people were not as excepting
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Misogyny
Moderate: Violence
natashamountney's review
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Violence
charlottereadsthings's review against another edition
emotional
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Like probably many, I came to My Policeman following on from watching the Amazon Prime adaptation.
One theme of this story that I haven't been able to shake is the devestating notion of wasted/lost time. Just the idea of "if only this thing was different then imagine what my life could have been."
My Policeman is split into two timelines: Marian talking to present day Patrick about how she met Tom and all their adventures together as a trio in the past, and Patrick's diary entries from the time. While very much infuriating, I find Marian a very complex and interesting character, so it was interesting to see those gaps from the film filled in by getting a deeper insight into her perspective of the world and the situations she finds herself in.
I wish there was more of Patrick's diaries as I found those sections the most enjoyable to read and they really hammered home how difficult it was to be LGBT at the time.
Ehat I found interesting (and something I wish I could ask the author about) is that, while Tom is central to a lot of the emotions in the story, we don't get to read his direct perspective. He seems to exist on the outskirts which I guess could be seen as feeding into how he keeps himself iscolated because of his own feelings.
This book is beautiful and definitely wort a read.
One theme of this story that I haven't been able to shake is the devestating notion of wasted/lost time. Just the idea of "if only this thing was different then imagine what my life could have been."
My Policeman is split into two timelines: Marian talking to present day Patrick about how she met Tom and all their adventures together as a trio in the past, and Patrick's diary entries from the time. While very much infuriating, I find Marian a very complex and interesting character, so it was interesting to see those gaps from the film filled in by getting a deeper insight into her perspective of the world and the situations she finds herself in.
I wish there was more of Patrick's diaries as I found those sections the most enjoyable to read and they really hammered home how difficult it was to be LGBT at the time.
Ehat I found interesting (and something I wish I could ask the author about) is that, while Tom is central to a lot of the emotions in the story, we don't get to read his direct perspective. He seems to exist on the outskirts which I guess could be seen as feeding into how he keeps himself iscolated because of his own feelings.
This book is beautiful and definitely wort a read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Homophobia