T;LDR: Friendship, murder, revenge and class conflict set in an upper-crust English boys’ school, it is tricky, engaging, and a well-written book. While I liked Chocolat, I love this book even more.
Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Yet another Throw Back Thursday book review, this particular book is another great mystery, but with a psychological aspect that makes it unique. It also features two narrators, both in first person, and a tricky history and lead up to the final reveal. It is the ultimate chess match, and one player doesn’t even know he’s playing. I love this book and it’s complex layers, which is why I rate it 5 stars.
Plot
Roy Straitley, an eccentric classics teacher begins the new school term at St. Oswald’s School for boys, an English upper-crust school where he has taught for more than 30 years. As modernity is catching up with St. Oswald’s, Straitley is contemplating retirement, rather than face technology, paperwork and suits.
This term, there are five new faculty members, including one who – unbeknownst to everyone – has a nefarious plan to bring down the school and is willing to do murder to do it. This faculty member, whom I’ll call the player moving forward, has dark ties to the school’s past and to Straitley.
They decide to play a chess match against Straitley, pitting their intellect against his. The game starts small – a missing coffee cup, a lost pen – but soon they escalate to not only destroying the reputations of teachers at the school, but also to missing boys.
As Straitley navigates the chaos befalling St. Oswald’s and his opponent masterfully implements their strategy down to the final moment, the question becomes: Can Straitley outwit a player in a match he didn’t even know he was playing?
T;LDR: Roy Straitley contemplates retirement among a series of mishaps occurring at the all boys’ school at which he teaches. As the incidents escalate, can Straitley reveal the strategist and stop the school from being destroyed before any more people are killed?
What I Liked
I have reread this book many times. In fact, it was another one of the six books I took to Canada with me (post here). So, I love this book.
I love the switching POVs. I’ll address what other people say about it in the ‘What I didn’t like’ section, but I had no problems following the narrative and knowing when it was Straitley or the player speaking. I love that both characters have distinct and unique character traits and arcs.
I like that the school boys featured in the book aren’t one dimensional. They are your average handful of personalities and each one is unique enough so as not to get them confused.
I love the setting. Who doesn’t love an English school setting? (Well, many people, but not me). The school has its own character, from the chalk and the mice down to the many stairs to get to the tower rooms. Harris spent time teaching in a boys’ school and so she is able to use her experience to make St. Oswald’s come alive on the page. And it does. It is brilliant. (After reading this book the first time, I went on a mysteries-set-in-English-schools-and-university reading frenzy. It’s that good.)
I like that the entire plot is twisting and not clear cut. Maybe someone else could see the opponent clearly, but I didn’t see it coming. The historical narrative chapters don’t give much away as to what gender the opponent has, which means picking which one of the new teachers it the bad apple is very difficult.
What I didn’t Like
I have no issues with this book, so here are the top negative comments on Goodreads for this book.
Many people say this book is hard to follow. The POV switches that occur are not even – sometimes there are two chapters from the player in a row, other times not. I have an issue with this negative for two reasons: 1) The tone and style of narrative is very different from speaker to speaker – it’s hard to miss; 2) The book’s formatting gives you all the clues you need. Each chapter from Straitley’s POV has a King chess image; the player has a pawn. I’ve checked every chapter.
To be fair, it’s possible my edition has something the first edition published doesn’t, but I doubt it.
Other commentary against the book is that the initial chapters were boring, didn’t provide the suspense and it meant they couldn’t finish reading it long enough to get to the twist. That’s subjective – what one person finds entertaining, another doesn’t. I couldn’t get past the fourth book in Harry Potter for that very reason. So, this one, I’ll just – I didn’t have that problem. I liked that you get all cozy in the school dynamics before the trouble starts.
Another negative comment was on the plotting. This is similar to the complaints that it wasn’t as suspenseful as they like in a psychological thriller. I do think Harris does have suspense, but she approaches it more like a literary novel instead of a mystery/thriller, which could be why people looking for that type of book didn’t like this one. I came into it knowing it would be slow – it’s a big book (422 pages) about a boys’ school.
Isn’t that an obvious clue it wouldn’t be fast paced?
To Sum Up (too late!)
Overall, if you like books setting in English schools with twists, turns and psychological underpinnings, then this book is for you!
It is one of my favorites and I didn’t see the problems other readers did. Perhaps my overriding love of English school settings dulled those issues for me, or perhaps the setting enhanced it for the people who didn’t like the book. Either way, I loved this book!
Sidenote: Harris published two other books in this series, one is a sequel – Different Class with Straitley as a character. I was not a fan. So, take that for what you will.
About the Author
Joanne Harris is an Anglo-French author, whose books include fourteen novels, two cookbooks and many short stories. Her work is extremely diverse, covering aspects of magic realism, suspense, historical fiction, mythology and fantasy. She has also written a DR WHO novella for the BBC, has scripted guest episodes for the game ZOMBIES, RUN!, and is currently engaged in a number of musical theatre projects as well as developing an original drama for television.
You can find my truncated, but similar, Goodreads review here.
If you wish to purchase this book, pick your vendor of choice here, or just cave to the man and get it from Amazon here.