Gentlemen and Players

Gentlemen and Players is a boarding house story with a dark heart. I picked this one from an aunt’s bookshelf and read it expecting something of the sweetness of Chocolat, but found a far more satisfying story, with twisting questions of identity, class, and revenge. I liked the clever split narrative, which used chess imagery, and the mystery of the Black Pawn, whose identity is deftly concealed until the close of the book. This is a surprising psychological thriller that would make a great book club pick, and I will not forget the rooftop chase nor that bonfire night.

What school doesn’t have at least a couple of skeletons in the closet? The venerable St. Oswald’s is no different. What I love about this psychological thriller is that it pulls no punches about the dark side of boarding school. It explores my favorite literary themes: class warfare, family secrets, and identity, and masterfully unravels a complicated plot. The setting of St. Oswald’s, like all the best academic novels, functions as a looming, dangerous character in itself.