The Queen's Gambit - Walter Tevis

NOW A MAJOR NETFLIX SERIES starring Anya Taylor-Joy from Academy-Award nominee Scott Frank and BAFTA nominee Allan Scott''Superb'' Time Out''Mesmerizing'' Newsweek''Gripping'' Financial Times''Sheer entertainment. It is a book I reread every few years - for the pure pleasure and skill of it'' Michael Ondaatje''Don''t pick this up if you want a night''s sleep'' ScotsmanWhen she is sent to an orphanage at the age of eight, Beth Harmon soon discovers two ways to escape her surroundings, albeit fleetingly: playing chess and taking the little green pills given to her and the other children to keep them subdued. Before long, it becomes apparent that hers is a prodigious talent, and as she progresses to the top of the US chess rankings she is able to forge a new life for herself. But she can never quite overcome her urge to self-destruct. For Beth, there''s more at stake than merely winning and losing.''Few novelists have written about genius - and addiction - as acutely as Walter Tevis'' The Telegraph