The Last Checkmate: A Novel
A Paperback Original—Also Available as a Simultaneous Hardcover EditionReaders of Heather Morris’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz and watchers of The Queen’s Gambit won’t want to miss this amazing debut set during World War II. A young Polish resistance worker, imprisoned in Auschwitz as a political prisoner, plays chess in exchange for her life, and in doing so fights to bring the man who destroyed her family to justice.
Maria is many things: daughter, avid chess player, and member of the Polish underground resistance in
Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Captured by the Gestapo she is imprisoned in
Auschwitz, while her family is sent to their deaths. Realizing her ability to
play chess, the sadistic camp deputy, Fritzsch, intends to use her as a chess
opponent to entertain the camp guards. However, once he tires of utilizing her skills, he has
every intention of killing her.Befriended by a Catholic
priest, Maria attempts to overcome her grief and see the value in survival. Literally
playing for her life through four grueling years, her strategy is simple: Live.
Fight. Survive. By cleverly provoking Fritzsch’s volatile nature in front of
his superiors, Maria intends to orchestrate his downfall. Only then will she
have a chance to evade the fate awaiting her and see him brought to justice.As she carries out her plan
and the war nears its end, she discovers Fritzsch has survived. And so Maria, vowing still to avenge the
murder of her family, challenges her former nemesis to one final game, certain
to end in life or death, in failure or justice. If Maria can bear to face
Fritzsch—and her past—one last time.
A Paperback Original—Also Available as a Simultaneous Hardcover EditionReaders of Heather Morris’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz and watchers of The Queen’s Gambit won’t want to miss this amazing debut set during World War II. A young Polish resistance worker, imprisoned in Auschwitz as a political prisoner, plays chess in exchange for her life, and in doing so fights to bring the man who destroyed her family to justice.
Maria is many things: daughter, avid chess player, and member of the Polish underground resistance in
Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Captured by the Gestapo she is imprisoned in
Auschwitz, while her family is sent to their deaths. Realizing her ability to
play chess, the sadistic camp deputy, Fritzsch, intends to use her as a chess
opponent to entertain the camp guards. However, once he tires of utilizing her skills, he has
every intention of killing her.Befriended by a Catholic
priest, Maria attempts to overcome her grief and see the value in survival. Literally
playing for her life through four grueling years, her strategy is simple: Live.
Fight. Survive. By cleverly provoking Fritzsch’s volatile nature in front of
his superiors, Maria intends to orchestrate his downfall. Only then will she
have a chance to evade the fate awaiting her and see him brought to justice.As she carries out her plan
and the war nears its end, she discovers Fritzsch has survived. And so Maria, vowing still to avenge the
murder of her family, challenges her former nemesis to one final game, certain
to end in life or death, in failure or justice. If Maria can bear to face
Fritzsch—and her past—one last time.
Description
A Paperback Original—Also Available as a Simultaneous Hardcover EditionReaders of Heather Morris’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz and watchers of The Queen’s Gambit won’t want to miss this amazing debut set during World War II. A young Polish resistance worker, imprisoned in Auschwitz as a political prisoner, plays chess in exchange for her life, and in doing so fights to bring the man who destroyed her family to justice.
Maria is many things: daughter, avid chess player, and member of the Polish underground resistance in
Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Captured by the Gestapo she is imprisoned in
Auschwitz, while her family is sent to their deaths. Realizing her ability to
play chess, the sadistic camp deputy, Fritzsch, intends to use her as a chess
opponent to entertain the camp guards. However, once he tires of utilizing her skills, he has
every intention of killing her.Befriended by a Catholic
priest, Maria attempts to overcome her grief and see the value in survival. Literally
playing for her life through four grueling years, her strategy is simple: Live.
Fight. Survive. By cleverly provoking Fritzsch’s volatile nature in front of
his superiors, Maria intends to orchestrate his downfall. Only then will she
have a chance to evade the fate awaiting her and see him brought to justice.As she carries out her plan
and the war nears its end, she discovers Fritzsch has survived. And so Maria, vowing still to avenge the
murder of her family, challenges her former nemesis to one final game, certain
to end in life or death, in failure or justice. If Maria can bear to face
Fritzsch—and her past—one last time.
