My Policeman A heartbreaking story of longing, betrayal and forbidden gay romance in 1950s England

I really, really enjoyed this book! To read of life in England as it was 60 years ago put back into perspective how much has changed already in this 'short' amount of time (in most western countries, that is). It was heartbreaking to read how gay people were treated and looked upon, that it was even possible for them to be thrown into prison for simply existing. Unfortunately, the demonisation of the LGBTQIA+ community is still a big part of our world and there’s so much people belonging to this community have to endure just because they have other interests romantically. Regardless on where someone stands on the question whether or not loving the same gender is ok, or whether or not people who feel like they’re born the 'wrong' gender, it’s never ok to belittle or demonise them. It’s our duty as humans to treat each other with kindness and love. Since I don’t want this post to become too much a discussion on morality etc, I’ll say this much: I hope we finally learn to listen to others and try to understand what is new to us without condemning these people. And now for the review of the book: My Policeman had me grappling with so much! Big thoughts, little thoughts. Huge problems, tiny problems. And since we have 3 people (2 perspectives) it doesn’t force your mind in one direction. We have three completely different viewpoints and positions which are all conveyed in such a wonderful way. All three of our MC’s are flawed and their actions and mistaks feel so authentic which shows me that the author really spent some time with those characters. I don’t like all of them the same and some of their words or actions are really bad. But I see where their hurt, frustration, worldview is coming from and I can empathise which, in turn, makes them very loveable. It is a very slow book with little direct speech but in my opinion the author found the perfect way of telling the story by sometimes only touching on things and letting the reader fill in the blanks - as many reactions and/or relationship developments could be guessed at by what came before and what came after. I really, really enjoyed this style of writing and I even liked the very open ending, as it just fits with the rest so very well. Maybe I would have liked a little more drama towards the end but it could’ve also seemed very wrong and displaced, who knows. This book will, for sure, keep me mulling over things for quite some time to come.

Die wunderschön und traurige Geschichte über die Liebe von drei Menschen in den 1950ern. Herzzerreißend und auf eine so schöne individuelle und persönliche Art geschrieben. Ich konnte es nicht aus der Hand legen. Die Ungerechtigkeit gegenüber der LGBTQ Community und der damit verbundene Schmerz berührt zutiefst. Absolut empfehlenswert!!!

Das Buch war zum weinen schön. Da aus zwei Sichten geschrieben wurde, konnte man sich besonders gut in die Geschichte hineinversetzten. Das Thema LGBTQ wurde in dem Buch toll hervorgehoben und es wurde gezeigt, dass es manchmal schwer ist zu wissen, wer man selbst eigentlich ist. Marion, etwas naiv und doch total verliebt; Tom, „anders" als seine Frau ihn gerne hätte, und Patrick, ein Mann, der Tom die Freiheit zeigt, bilden ein Trio, wie man es nur aus den besten Büchern kennt. Ich wünschte mir, ich könnte das Buch erneut zum ersten Mal lesen! Es ist das Buch zu dem ich greife, wenn ich mich wieder in den Seiten einer Buches verlieren will.

Der Einblick in die fiktive Beziehung eines homosexuellen Paares und die Realität der 1950er in England, erinnert dass solche Geschichten leider nicht nur fiktiv sind sondern viel mehr als das. Ein Meisterwerk und definitiv weiter zu empfehlen!

I actually bought it only because Harry styles is gonna be in the movie of this book, so I wanted to know what Happens there exactly. Didn’t finish yet but all I can say is that the writing style is amazing and I recommend it to everyone!