GAME OF CHANCE

The Last Checkmate By Gabriella Saab, HarperCollins, $32.99 .. .. .. .. ..

.. .. If you thought this was another novel about a young woman who saves her own life in Auschwitz by entertaining the camp commander with her skills at chess, you'd be wrong.

Maria Florkowska is a keen chess player and as a very young teenager, a member of the Polish underground resistance in Nazioccupied Warsaw. She is captured and watches the rest of her family taken to their deaths.

The sadistic camp deputy uses her as a chess opponent to entertain the guards, but once he gets sick of her he intends to kill her. This game keeps her alive for four years, a lifetime in Auschwitz. And she intends to avenge her family's deaths and find out what really happened to them. As the war ends and the prisoners are freed, she plays one last game against her nemesis.

This is Saab's first novel, and it's a triumph. The timeline shifts regularly so you need to keep your wits about you, but it's a skillful piece of writing.

If you enjoyed Queen's Gambit, you'll love this, even though it's not really about chess. This time the stakes are more than fashion and the social scene. —