''My Policeman'' is a 2012

historical romance Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Lord Byron, Byron helped popularize in the early 19th century. The genre often takes the form of the novel. Varieties ...

novel written by Bethan Roberts. It is set in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, in the 1950s.

Plot summary

The novel is set in

in 1957. Marion, a schoolteacher, falls in love with Tom Burgess, a policeman. Tom explores gay love with Patrick Hazelwood, a museum curator but, because of the social constraints of the era, Tom and Marion get married, even though Tom still has feelings for Patrick.Natasha Tripney
My Policeman by Bethan Roberts – review
''The Guardian'', March 11, 2012 Tom is torn between the safety his marriage to Marion offers him and his attraction to Patrick. When Marion becomes jealous, she exposes Patrick and gets him arrested for

indecency Inappropriateness refers to standards or ethics that are typically viewed as being negative in a society. It differs from things that are illicit in that inappropriate behavior does not necessarily have any accompanying legal ramifications. Co ...

.Richard Canning
My Policeman By Bethan Roberts
''The Independent'', March 20, 2012 This causes a permanent split in Tom and Patrick's relationship and tension in Tom and Marion's marriage.

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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 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 Michael Grandage Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 2 May 1962) is a British theatre director and producer. He is currently artistic director of the Michael Grandage Company. From 2002 to 2012 he was artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse ...

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 and were nominated for a Prim ...

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 showmanship, artistry, and flamboyant fashion have had a Cultural impact of Harry Styles, significant impact on popular culture. Styles's musical ca ...

as Tom Burgess with shooting to begin in April of that year. It was later reported the film would also feature

Gina McKee Georgina McKee (born 14 April 1964) is an English actress. She won the 1997 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for '' Our Friends in the North'' (1996), and earned subsequent nominations for '' The Lost Prince'' (2003) and '' The Street'' (2007) ...

as an older Marion,

Rupert Everett Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupil at an English public scho ...

as an older Patrick Hazelwood, and

Linus Roache Linus William Roache (born 1 February 1964) is a British actor. He played Executive ADA List of Law & Order characters#Michael Cutter, Michael Cutter in the NBC dramas ''Law & Order'' (2008–2010) and ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2011 ...

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 47th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 8 to 18, 2022. The 2022 festival was staged primarily in-person; a small selection of films were offered on the Digital TIFF Bell Lightbox platform, but this represente ...

and was screened at the

Adelaide Film Festival The Adelaide Film Festival (AFF, formerly ADLFF) is a film festival usually held for two weeks in mid-October in movie theater, cinemas in Adelaide, South Australia. Originally presented wikt:Special:Search/biennial, biennially in March from 2 ...

before a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in the United States and a streaming release on 4 November 2022 by

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

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