Break Point

Break Point is a novel written by Rosie Rushton. It was published by Piccadilly Press in 2002. Plot summary Emily Driver is the best young tennis player in East Sussex. After she wins Under 18s East Sussex Tennis Championship, a lot of journalists want to make an interview with her. One of them is Hugo Fraser - a trainee from Evening Argus magazine. When he interviews her, Emily's mother, Ruth, comes to changing room and tells her that Felix Fordyce - the best tennis coach in Great Britain wants to see her. Emily gets a scholarship of Felix's Tennis Academy. In the evening, she goes to Viki's party with her friend, Charlie. Emily meets Hugo there. She tells him that she doesn't want to be a tennis star, but she also tells him that she doesn't want this conversation to appear in his magazine. Then they jump off the wall and Viki takes photo of it. Tomorrow, Emily goes to her grandmother's place. When they talk, she tells her mother that she doesn't want to play tennis anymore, because she wants to pass A-levels, study at university and work for UNICEF. Emily's mother doesn't want her daughter to waste her chance, but Lally (that's how Emily calls her grandmother) tells her to end her education and tells a story, which happened, when she was 16. Alice's father dies, while fighting with Germans. Her mother sells tickets in the Tube. She thinks that her daughter should work, either. Alice doesn't like mother's idea. Her friend, Violet, visits her and she tries to convince her of going for a dancing. It was hard to make it, but finally Alice agrees. They meet American soldiers there. One of them, Zack, falls in love with Alice at the first sight. She does the same. They dance and talk about life and war. They promise each other to write letters. Few months later, Alice's got a lot of letters from him, but she didn't tell her mother about her sweetheart yet, because she only talks about Stanley. Few months later, she meets Zack. Suddenly, Germans bomb London. Alice's mother die then, and she blames herself for mother's death. She now lives at Turnbulls' in Alf's room (he died on the war). Stanley comes home and he proposes Alice to marry him. She agrees, because Zack didn't write to her from 2 years. And now Lally will, finally, marry Zack. She tells her daughter and granddaughter about her plans, but Ruth is angry with it. Emily thinks it's great, but she isn't very happy, when Alice tells her that she will live in Montana.