Gentlemen and Players

This is one of four Joanne Harris novels I have read and, though not my favourite, is pretty good. Unsurprisingly, my favourite is Chocolat, but G & P comes a close second. In G & P, we are concerned with the inmates of a secondary school, particularly the teachers, and the effect a series of... attacks is a bit strong. I think I'll go with events... has on them.

In typical Joanne Harris style, we hear the story through several voices, in this case, a teacher at the school and the perpetrator of the attacks (I gave up, it'll do. Whatever they are, they're definitely malicious). This gives (slowly, naturally. If it were too fast, it would spoil the surprise) us the motivation behind the meanness and the emotions of the target.

The idea behind it is an interesting one, and our villain's motivation is as reasonable as it can ever - by which I mean, it isn't reasonable, but when you're dealing with a madman, what is? The characterisation is good and the plot moves along swiftly, without feeling forced. The novel us set in England, which has the added advantage that she doesn't feel the need to scatter the text with random French words.

I felt an unexpected amount of sympathy for the villain - I say villain, but this person isn't just a villain. The character she creates is more of a particularly twisted anti-hero than just a villain, as we are expected to identify with them to a certain extent. Our victim is a rather charming teacher of the old school. The kind of teacher you always sort of wished you had. Interested in the children, strict, but not unkind, his life outside of school is cleverly drawn and gives you a new perspective on dedicated teachers.

The children are just right. We have all of those characters everyone recognises from school. The weird one who annoys everyone, the one who's just right side of cheeky, the few who hit the wrong side of cheeky... Joanne Harris' style irritates me a little sometimes, but that is a personal view, so, if you like her, I would say go for it!