Engaging and fast-paced, this gripping coming-of-age novel of chess, feminism, and addiction speeds to a conclusion as elegant and satisfying as a mate in four. Eight year-old orphan Beth Harmon is quiet, sullen, and by all appearances unremarkable. That is, until she plays her first game of chess. As her senses grow sharper and clearer, for the first time in her life she feels herself fully in control. But on the professional chess circuit, control is harder to maintain.
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