The Chequer Board
by Nevil Shute
John Turner, a young man with a checkered background, was told he only had one year left to live. He decides to use his remaining time to search for three different men he met in a hospital during the war, each of whom is in some kind of distress: the pilot whose wife betrayed him, the young corporal who is accused of killing civilians in a fight, and the black G.I. is falsely accused of attempting to rape a white English girl. When Turner learns where these people fit into life's chessboard, he learns about compassion, tolerance, and second chances, and overcomes his fear of death.
