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Illustrated portrait of Colin

A character in The Swimming-Pool Library

Colin

A gay policeman whose divided role exposes the overlap between queer life and policing.

What they want

To navigate homosexual private life while maintaining his place in law enforcement.

The book

Cover of The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst
The Swimming-Pool LibraryAlan Hollinghurst, 1988

Queer freedom in 1980s London meets class, power, loneliness, and the lives that came before it.

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Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Colin is a gay policeman connected with Will.

His private life and official role pull in contradictory directions.

He becomes connected to the entrapment affecting James.

How Colin Is Portrayed

Appearance, manner, and tone — as the book sketches them, in our words.

  • OfficialUniform and institution shape his public authority.
  • Privately knowingHe understands the gay world police continue to monitor.
  • ContradictoryIdentity does not place him outside the policing system.
  • Institutional linkHis role connects Will’s circle to James’s legal vulnerability.

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