GABRIELLA’S GAMBIT
Bursting onto the literary scene in October 2021 with the debut of The Last Checkmate: A Novel, to instant acclaim, Gabriella Saab isn’t resting on her laurels. Announcing the publication date of her second work of historical fiction this January, this hometown treasure spoke to us about her path to becoming a novelist, her inspiration, and her next chapter.
By Amber Wielkens Photos Stevye Photography, StevyePhotography.com Hair Jason Chambers, Headdress Salon, 251.689.7427 Makeup Courtney Matthews Makeup Artistry, Cocokat1978@gmail.com
Shot on location at Knucklebones Elixir Co. and Beard & Blade in The Social Experiment Collective, 202 Government Street, Mobile, TheSocialExp.com.
Watching Gabriella at her oh-so-glam photoshoot is a revelation. She’s engaging and game to try different looks (did we mention she’s gorgeous, and she’ll chat with anyone about anything, but there’s more to her than meets the eye. She’s both a towering intellect and the model of humility, making her mark on the world via the novels she writes, so there’s no need to carry on about it. We already love her for her restraint—let’s just say if it were one of us with a hit debut and our second book being published soon, we’d possibly be wearing a T-shirt that said so.
“Thought-provoking, immersive, and powerful,” reads one review. “Raw and powerful in its humanity, The Last Checkmate will break your heart and stitch it back together again,” says another. We could go on quoting reviews of Gabriella’s debut novel, but we think you get the gist—it was well received by readers and critics alike. Currently available in in 14 countries and counting, Gabriella’s star is on the rise. Celebrated locally as well, she has held readings and book signings at Mobile’s Haunted Bookshop and Fairhope’s Page & Palette, as well as met with local book clubs.
Likened to Netflix’s hit miseries The Queen’s Gambit due to both stories featuring a teenaged girl who’s a fierce chess player, The Last Checkmate takes place during the much darker era of Poland during World War II and at the darkest place—Auschwitz. Our protagonist is Maria, a young Polish resistance worker imprisoned there after being caught opposing the Nazis and helping Jewish people; for the camp guards’ entertainment, she is forced to play chess in exchange for her life. In doing so, she fights to bring the man who destroyed her family to justice. The book also paints a riveting, if horrifying, picture of life for the prisoners of Auschwitz while never letting us forget the humanity that shines through even the darkest of times, as shown through Maria and her relationships with her fellow prisoners. Buy it, read it, and trust you’ll be as enthralled as we were.
And the author? Gabriella’s family moved from Madison, Mississippi, when she was a young girl, and she grew up here, studying ballet with Mobile Ballet until it began conflicting with her studies. Make no mistake that Gabriella’s full-time job is being a gifted writer, but she’s also currently working as an instructor at Pure Barre’s midtown location and remains a lifelong aficionado of the art of ballet.
Turning 28 this month, Gabriella was certain at an early age that she wanted to become an author, and while attending McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, she began laying the groundwork to become one. “I started getting serious about learning how the publishing industry works, and when I graduated and began attending Mississippi State University, I had a good grasp on the business side of things. I earned a degree in marketing because it would either help me promote myself if I got published or give me a useful degree if I didn’t,” she claims. With a fallback degree in place, Gabriella began writing her first novel in January of 2018 while also working two jobs (at the now-shuttered Sarah B. Atchison’s and Pure Barre). There’s no disputing her excellent marketing skills, but they’re used entirely to market herself, as she signed with her literary agent in January of 2020.
Those not familiar with the publishing process might be unaware of this, but writing a book and acquiring a literary agent within two years is almost unheard of, and Gabriella won’t tell you that, so we will. “I wrote and researched the first draft in about six months, then went to visit Warsaw and Auschwitz in Poland learn more about the experiences and settings of the people who lived there,” she says, acknowledging that visiting the grim setting for her novel was crucial to the process. After working with her agent to write the best version of the book, they started pitching it to publishing houses that summer. The pandemic impacted the process, but Gabriella had a book deal with William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (her first choice) within six months and it was released 10 months later.
Grab her book now!
A Paperback Original—Also Available as a Hardcover Library Editionbook link
Inspiration for The Last Checkmate abounded, but Gabriella’s main source was her beloved late grandfather, to whom the book is dedicated. In the fall of 2019, when she was still seeking literary agent representation, her grandfather, called Poppy, was diagnosed with cancer. She dropped everything to be one of his caretakers, both at his home and in the hospital. “I would make the four-hour drive to Mississippi every week, spending Thursday through Sunday and then come home to Mobile to teach barre classes Monday through Wednesday. It was back and forth for 12 weeks,” she says, “and I wouldn’t trade the time I got to spend with him for the world.” Poppy passed away at the end of 2019, but Gabriella was left a legacy of his constant love and encouragement.
Other influences were both familial and global. “My paternal grandmother served in WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) for the U.S. Navy in World War II and my paternal grandfather served in Japan with the U.S. Army. He passed away before I was born and my grandmother died when I was 14. I wasn’t aware she had served until afterward and wish I’d known to ask her about her experience,” she says.
The Last Checkmate was inspired by true stories of the Polish resistance movement, the camp resistance movement in Auschwitz, and the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz. “This group of women were forced to play during prisoner executions and to perform for the guards,” Gabriella says, adding, “This made me ponder having the skill you love and have worked so hard to become good at being warped into a tool to keep yourself alive. What would that look like psychologically?” Here, Gabriella offers a peek into her writing process, telling us, “As I was getting to know Maria, my main character, and figuring out how to weave these interesting bits of history together, she made it very clear that she was a talented chess player, and there was my answer.”
How exactly does one come up with an idea for a novel? We have plenty of ideas, none of which could be stretched out over 400 pages. For Gabriella, who’s Catholic, it started with the idea of a Franciscan priest and a young girl in Auschwitz together. “That scene is in the book, but from that idea, I had to figure out a scenario in which my fictional characters could conceivably be there, as women weren’t yet imprisoned there. I always knew Maria was Polish and Catholic because I’m not Jewish and it’s not my place to tell the story from a Jewish perspective,” she claims. “Then I began researching the Polish resistance and the Catholic Church in Poland at the time, which led to some of the truthful elements in the story, like the camp resistance at Auschwitz.”
Perhaps the most touching reviews for the book come from Polish reviewers, one of whom wrote, “It is worth noting how much space the author has devoted to Polish affairs, recalling historical figures and highlighting the dedication of Poles who rescued children from the Warsaw ghetto, exposing themselves to death in the camp. Gabriella Saab is certainly an ally of Poles, whose sacrifice and bravery are highlighted in this historical novel.” We can imagine no higher validation for a historical fiction writer than these words.
What she hopes readers take away from her first book? “Despite taking place in one of the darkest times and places in history, I hope the story demonstrates how courage, resilience, and love can emerge and triumph over such evil. It’s a story of loss and struggle, but also one of strength, hope and survival,” she says, astutely noting, “The further each generation gets from historic and world-changing events, the harder it is to imagine and to understand them, which is why I’m drawn to studying history and writing historical fiction. If you can place readers in these situations via characters, there’s the hope they’ll want to learn more about that time in history.”
We’ll get the chance to learn even more history with her announcement of the release date of her second novel, Daughters of Victory, on January 24, 2023—mark your calendars! Gabriella gives us a preview, saying, “This story spans from the Russian Revolution to the Nazi occupation of the Soviet Union, following Svetlana, who defies her aristocratic family by joining the revolution (paying dearly for it) and her granddaughter Mila, who comes to live with her in her remote village ahead of the Nazi siege of Leningrad. When Mila joins the resistance, dangerous secrets and old enemies soon threaten all Svetlana holds dear and force her to confront her long-buried past.”
Although Gabriella is quick to say that she isn’t an accomplished chess player like Maria, she nonetheless possesses the strategic and creative thinking necessary to become one. Evidence? From educating herself about publishing in high school to earning a marketing degree to better position herself as an author, her well-plotted rise to success is a master class in playing the long game, and we applaud both her and the important stories she tells.
