Scan barcode
A review by jovtom
My Policeman by Bethan Roberts
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