It is in 1950s' Brighton that Marion first catches sight of the handsome and enigmatic 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.
Tom is their policeman, and in this age it is safer for him to marry Marion. The two lovers must share him, until one of them breaks and three lives are destroyed.
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I considered starting with these words : I no longer want to kill you - because I really don't - but then decided you would think this far too melodramatic.- Peacehaven, October 1999
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(Vintage, 2 August 2012, paperback, 352 pages, borrowed from North Ayrshire Libraries, #POPSUGARreadingchallenge, a book set in a travel destination on your bucket list)
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I loved My Policeman. I need to watch the movie now. This is a beautiful, heart-wrenching book about love, loss and LGBT prejudice. I like the way the book is structured with different voices telling the story of Marion, Tom and Patrick. Most of the chapters are from Marion's point of view, set in the present when the three of them are pensioners, paying the price she feels she deserves for a terrible mistake she made and also the past telling how their lives became entwined. There are also chapters from Patrick's point of view as he falls for Tom and pays a price for Marion's nativity. This book broke my heart a little bit. I see that a good thing.
