High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Gentlemen & Players is a novel by Joanne Harris first published in 2005. A dark psychological thriller, some of the themes may be partly based on Harris` experiences as a teacher at Leeds Grammar School. Set in the present day during Michaelmas term at St Oswald`s, a grammar school for boys somewhere in the North of England, the book is a psychological thriller about class distinctions, damaged childhood, secrets, identity and revenge.