New Policeman Quotes

When J.J.’s mother reveals that she wants more time for her birthday, J.J. decides to go and find some. A task, at first, that seems like an impossible undertaking for a fifteen-year-old. That is until a neighbor shows J.J. an unlikely place to look for everyone’s lost time.

J.J. Liddy, the main character of Kate Thompson’s novel The New Policeman, has a problem: there never seems to be enough time in the day. In fact, there seems to be decidedly less time.

But then J.J. discovers a place where time stands still—at least it used to. Time is leaking from our world into Tir na n’Og, But then J.J. discovers a place where time stands still—at least it used to. Time is leaking from our world into Tir na n’Og, the land of the fairies, and while we have too little of it, they are beginning to have too much.

When J.J.’s mother idly wishes for more time for her birthday, J.J. decides to find her some. But how can he find her time when he barely has enough time of his own to do the basics, like schoolwork—let alone to find out if the local rumors about his grandfather being a murderer are true?

The narration shifts throughout the book alternating between J.J. in his search for the county’s lost time and the wanderings of the new policeman in Kinvara, Garda Larry O’Dwyer. Like J.J. (and most of Kinvara it seems), the new policeman has a love for music.

At the same time, The New Policeman is irresistibly Irish, as if you can hear an Irish accent in the narration (or hear a jig or two in the background). The book’s “Irish-ness” is enhanced by Thompson’s integration of Irish mythology and folklore; a glossary in the back explains the pronunciation and origin of especially Irish words like ceili (a dance) or craic (fun).

There never quite seems to be enough time to do everything. That’s always been a problem, but it’s been getting worse lately. Everything always feels rushed, and there is no time just to wander along slowly and relax.

And only J.J. can make the journey to find out what’s causing the leak—but to do so, he’ll have to step out of his own life. And while J.J. quests in Tir na n’Og, the new policemen begins to show up in his hometown.

With barely enough hours in the day for school and his music, J.J. has no time left over to contemplate the shocking revelation that his grandfather may have been a murderer. To make matters worse, this time problem seems to affect everyone in Kinvara.

I guessed where some of the plot twists were going, but I didn’t catch the big one until right before it happened. And there were some twists I never saw coming at all. Completely delightful.