My Policeman by Bethan Roberts

1950s Brighton. Marion falls for her best friend’s brother, Tom when he teaches her to swim beside the pier, and she is determined that the strength of her love will be enough for both of them. A few years later, Patrick meets Tom in Brighton Museum. Also smitten, he introduces the couple to an exciting, more glamorous and sophisticated world. And so the three of them become inseparable, forming a complicated, risky triangle of friendship, love, desire and denial. In a time of strong social prejudice it is safest for Tom to marry Marion. And then their lives fall apart. A well-written and sensitive depiction of society’s prejudices and often hypocritical judgements. Of three lives damaged irrevocably by society’s conventions and the risks of revealing your true self. Of the fear of being exposed, the fear of losing everything and the fear of facing the truth. A heart-breaking love story with well-crafted, believable characters.

Overall score: 7.8

Range: 7 – 8.5