What if you lived in the 50's and couldn't express your sexuality?

My Policeman

My Policeman is a novel written by Bethan Roberts. It is set in Brighton, England in the 1950s when gay marriage was still illegal in the UK.

The book tells the story of a woman called Marion who has a crush on her friend's brother Tom. After school ended, she finds herself spending a lot of time with him and is determined to marry him but, without her knowing Tom is having an affair with an older man, Patrick. Marion marries Tom and ends up having to share her husband with Patrick, but it ends up breaking all of them in the process.

The book begins in 1999 with Patrick ill living in Marion and Tom's house. Marion has taken Patrick in after he has had two strokes and she is trying to nurse him back to health. Marion starts writing down on her diary their story so, she can read it to Patrick to help him heal. The novel goes back and forth from the present, 1999, back to 1957, when Patrick meets Tom and Marion's perspective on their love triangle.

This book was brilliant, and very explanatory about how difficult it was being gay, or a woman, in those times and that it was easier to hide your sexuality and to pretend that you had the typical normal life in the 50s than to express yourself.

It really emphasizes the importance of different perspectives but also things like acceptance, identity and belonging. The writer did an amazing job writing this book, by the end of it you feel like really know the characters and their history. 

Curiosity

Harry Styles will take the lead in My Policeman, the film adaptation and Emma Corrin the star from The Crown, will join him playing the role of Marion.

By Leonor Ramos