The Queen's Gambit

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'' Scotsman

When 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