My Policeman: A Novel by Bethan Roberts

3.5 (2)
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Web ID: 15843714

Now a motion picture starring Harry Styles, Emma Corrin, and David Dawson, an exquisitely told, tragic tale of thwarted love. Stunning fraught and honest. New York Times Book Review It is in 1950's Brighton that Marion first catches sight of Tom. He teaches her to swim, gently guiding her through the water in the shadow of the city's famous pier and Marion is smitten determined her love alone will be enough for them both. A few years later near the Brighton Museum, Patrick meets Tom. Patrick is besotted, and opens Tom's eyes to a glamorous, sophisticated new world of art, travel, and beauty. Tom is their policeman, and in this age it is safer for him to marry Marion and meet Patrick in secret. The two lovers must share him, until one of them breaks and three lives are destroyed. In this evocative portrait of midcentury England, Bethan Roberts reimagines the real life relationship the novelist E. M. Forster had with a policeman, Bob Buckingham, and his wife. My Policeman is a deeply heartfelt story of love's passionate endurance, and the devastation wrought by a repressive society.

  • Product Features

    • Suggested age range - Adult
    • Format - Paperback
    • Product dimensions - 5.3" W x 7.5" H x 1" D
    • Genre - Fiction
    • Publisher - Penguin Publishing Group, Publication date - 08-03-2021
    • Page count - 304
    • ISBN - 9780143136989
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3.5/5

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2 reviews
3 years ago
from Chicago, IL

Not recommended

My Policeman (Hardcover) by Bethan Roberts This is a love triangle novel between Marion Taylor - a schoolteacher, Thomas (Tom) Burgess - a policeman, and Patrick Francis Hazelwood - a curator of the Brighton Museum. Marion fell in love with Tom, Sylvie's Burgess brother from the first time she laid eyes on him. Sylvie was Marion's best friend and had a thing for Roy - who later became her husband. Tom was blond and blue-eyed and when he comes back from the National Service to be a policeman, Marion, a newly qualified teacher, is determined to win him. Tom starts teaching Marion how to swim. Meanwhile, Tom falls for Patrick, and soon their attraction becomes too much to bear and they act on it. Patrick is a bit older than Tom but he's infatuated with him and opens Tom's eyes to a glamorous sophisticated new world of art, travel, and beauty. They travel together a lot, including a trip to Venice. Tom realizes that his kind is condemned by society and the law, so he decides to marry Marion. Marion soon suspects about the relationship between Tom and Patrick and writes an anonymous letter to the police. Patrick is arrested and ends up in jail. The book is a mess. There are five parts that are narrated from the first person point of view - three from Marion's and two from Patrick's. It took me a long time to figure this out because the author gives the reader no clue and likes to intermingle the second-person point of view - while Marion talks to Patrick or Tom. There's also a constant change in the timeline - from the '50s to the '90s - also without warning - giving the ending away by the first chapter. I had trouble following the narration and the plot was boring and confusing. The book is based on the real-life relationship of the novelist E. M. Foster with a policeman. It's been released as a movie (2022) starring Harry Styles. I would not recommend the book. Perhaps the movie will be better.

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com

4 years ago
from Lorton,VA

LOVE IT TO DEATH

I originally read this since harry was going to be in the movie but now it’s officially my favorite book of all time. The characters are amazing and deserved so much better in their own ways. The writing was incredible and i’ll never stop recommending this book or even talking about it. I cant wait for the movie and seeing harry, emma, and david play tom, Marion, and Patrick.

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  • Photo from Mixhelle.c
  • Photo from Mixhelle.c

Customer review from barnesandnoble.com