Book Of The Month May, 2007
Gentlemen & PlayersJoanne Harris
The place is St Oswald s, an old and long-established boys grammar school in the north of England. A new year has just begun, and for the staff and boys of the school, a wind of unwelcome change is blowing. Suits, paperwork and Information Technology rule the world and Roy Straitley, Latin master, eccentric, and veteran of St Oswald s, is finally reluctantly contemplating retirement. But beneath the little rivalries, petty disputes and everyday crises of the school, a darker undercurrent stirs. And a bitter grudge, hidden and carefully nurtured for thirteen years, is about to erupt. Who is Mole, the mysterious insider, whose cruel practical jokes are gradually escalating towards violence and perhaps, murder? And how can an old and half-forgotten scandal become the stone that brings down a giant?
What We Think
Katie Flynn, author of Orphans of the Storm recommends:
‘Ever since contracting M.E. ten years ago, I have been unable to focus on print, so my choice of holiday reading is limited to audio titles. I have chosen three which I’ve not read and three old favourites.
The ‘new’ ones are Pompeii by Robert Harris, because I’m fascinated by ancient Rome; Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris and Through a Glass Darkly, a Commissario Brunetti whodunnit, by Donna Leon.
Old favourites are Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett which makes me laugh; The Toll Gate by Georgette Heyer, a regency suspense romance and Straight by Dick Francis, a whodunnit which has everything.’
Katie Flynn has lived for many years in the Northwest. A compulsive writer, she started with short stories and articles and many of her early stories were broadcast on Radio Mersey.She decided to write her Liverpool series after hearing the reminiscences of family members about life in the city in the early years of the twentieth century.She also writes as Judith Saxton.For the past few years, she has had to cope with ME but has continued to write.