''My Policeman'' is a 2012 romance novel written b

It is set in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in the 1950s.

Plot summary

The novel is set in

in 1957.Natasha Tripney
My Policeman by Bethan Roberts – review
''The Guardian'', March 11, 2012 Tom Burgess, a policeman, is gay. Marion, a schoolteacher, falls in love with him nonetheless. So does Patrick Hazelwood, a museum curator. Because of the social constraints of the era, Tom and Marion get married, even though Tom is in love with Patrick. Tom is torn between the safety his marriage to Marion offers him and the feelings he has for Patrick. When Marion becomes jealous, she exposes Patrick and gets him arrested for indecency.Richard Canning
My Policeman By Bethan Roberts
''The Independent'', March 20, 2012

Critical reception

The novel received positive reviews in the press. Writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Natasha Tripney said the style was "fluid and tender". In ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', Richard Canning wrote a positive review, suggesting the novel had "a strong period feel and a sprightly structure." Moreover, he added that the "euphemistic references to homosexuality and rich period slang" were congruous.

Film adaptation

In February 2021, it was reported that a film adaptation of the novel was in the works, directed by Michael Grandage and starring

Emma Corrin Emma-Louise Corrin (born 13 December 1995) is an English actor. They portrayed Diana, Princess of Wales in the fourth season of the Netflix historical drama ''The Crown'' (2020), for which they won a Golden Globe, a Critics' Choice Award, ...

as Marion, David Dawson as Patrick Hazelwood, and

Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...

as Tom Burgess with shooting to begin in April of that year. It was later reported the film would also featured Gina McKee as an older Marion, Rupert Everett as an older Patrick Hazelwood, and Linus Roache as an older Tom Burgess with the film starting with the arrival of Patrick to Marion and Tom's home during the late 1990s, triggering an exploration of the events from 40 years ago in the 1950s. ''My Policeman'' had its world premiere at the

2022 Toronto International Film Festival The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, the 47th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, is scheduled to be held from September 8 to 18, 2022. Festival organizers have indicated that the 2022 festival will be staged primar ...

and was screened at the Adelaide Film Festival before a limited theatrical release in the United States and a streaming release on 4 November 2022 by

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Dawson's performance but criticised the direction and the screenplay. The main cast members were announced as the collective winners of an acting award at TIFF's Tribute Awards, the first time that an award in that category was ever presented to an ensemble cast rather than an individual.

References

2012 British novels British LGBT novels British novels adapted into films Novels set in Brighton Novels set in the 1950s Fiction set in 1957 2010s LGBT novels Works about police officers Chatto & Windus books Adultery in novels 2012 LGBT-related literary works {{2010s-hist-novel-stub