It is in 1950s’ Brighton that Marion first catches sight of Tom. He teaches her to swim in the shadow of the pier and Marion is smitten – determined her love will be enough for them both. A few years later in Brighton Museum Patrick meets Tom. Patrick is besotted with Tom and opens his eyes to a glamorous, sophisticated new world.
Review
I admit that I hadn’t heard of My Policeman before it was a film starring Harry Styles. But maybe I redeemed myself as a book nerd by reading it rather than jumping right to the film?
I liked My Policeman. It’s not a book where a lot really happens, and that’s not usually my thing. However, the story is interesting and I wanted to see how it would all end. The story is told from the perspectives of Marion and Patrick. I can’t decide to what level I liked either of them. Neither were perfect and both made mistakes. I think what kept me most intrigued was the level of emotion I felt from both characters. While there are moments of happiness for both, what really came through were feelings of jealousy, anger, resentment and fear. Marion, in particular, was hard to like. I did feel empathy for her and she was hard done by, but something about her demeanour made it hard to truly feel for her.
Tom’s perspective is never shown to the reader, which makes me want to see the film and how the character is portrayed. Marion and Patrick both seem to idolise him and I would have liked to get a better understanding of why.
Want to read the book before watching the film? You can pick up a copy here.
Joyful Antidotes 