Break Point

by Kate Rigby

Alternate cover for 9781458004130

It's the start of the 1999 Wimbledon Tennis Championships. Break Point is not only about an obsession with Wimbledon: the game of tennis itself becomes a metaphor for the other psychological matches taking place at the house of peevish old Gwen McMahon. Careers come and go, but who will survive to the final?

It's the beginning of the 1999 Wimbledon Tennis Championships. Bobbie and girlfriend, June, have avidly followed the championships together for years. But Bobbie and June have just split up after Bobbie slept with best friend Babs. June has gone to Denmark and Bobbie gets a job caring for a difficult old woman. Soon it’s not just Wimbledon where the competitive rallies, the lobs and the drop-volleys are being played, as carers fall like seeds, and only those with the deadliest return of serve may survive to the final.

144 pages, ebook

First published April 30, 2006

About the author

I've been writing for nearly forty years. Good gracious, that long? I realized my unhip credentials were mounting so decided to write about it. Little Guide to Unhip was first published in 2010 and is now updated and republished.

However I'm not totally unhip. My punk novel, Fall Of The Flamingo Circus was published by Allison & Busby (1990) and by Villard (American hardback 1990). It's now been re-kindled.

I received a Southern Arts bursary for my novel Where A Shadow Played (now Did You Whisper Back?)

Skrev Press published my novels Seaview Terrace (2003) Sucka! (2004) and Break Point (2006) and other shorter work has appeared in Skrev’s avant garde magazine Texts’ Bones including a version of my satirical novella Lost The Plot.

Thalidomide Kid was first published by Bewrite Books (2007)

The following books are available in paperback at the following place (or by following the Amazon links below):

Far Cry From The Turquoise Room:
https://www.createspace.com/3634041

Savage to Savvy:
https://www.createspace.com/4210694

Little Guide To Unhip:
https://www.createspace.com/4847276

Down The Tubes:
http://www.amazon.com/Down-Tubes-Kate...

She Looks Pale & Other Stories:
https://www.amazon.com/She-Looks-Pale...


E-books available:

Fruit Woman:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013...

The Dead Club:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V0Y73DC

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Fall Of The Flamingo Circus:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0088E29H2

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14...

Suckers n Scallies (Formerly 'Sucka'):
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WTARYY

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Down The Tubes:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004UC51NK

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Seaview Terrace:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004SV2DBG

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Break Point:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004TNGRBU

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Thalidomide Kid:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008N3I904

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Far Cry From The Turquoise Room:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ZF80N0

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Little Guide to Unhip:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C121N2E

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/86...

Savage To Savvy
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006ASBQAE

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

She Looks Pale:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00821360A

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...

Did You Whisper Back?:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0077E2M26

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...

Lost The Plot:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...

Tales By Kindlelight:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005J0HNSI

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...


Short stories of mine have been published and shortlisted including Hard Workers and Headboards in various collections and anthologies:

On Your Half Century:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SJIR2OW

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Sharing Sarah:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PNVD5I0
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Cutting Edge:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P1AQGLQ

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Coats:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P1A47SU

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Family Tradition:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RARWYS2

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Hard Workers:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009JW4OZM

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I'm also a reader - quit

Reviews

[Amy Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Game. Set. Match!

What a great story. Now, I am a big fan of Rigby and the way she writes and tells a story. Now, this is a great story with the focus on a tennis, and the obsession of the career that focuses on Wimbledon. However, there is a mix of romance within this tale, but there is a great connection between the characters. The basis for the story may seem like it's the tennis obsession, but I think there is that daring exploration of relationships within the story, both past and present, sexual and not sexual. A lot of emotions running through this book, and it's one of those, that you won't want to put down.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for an honest review.
Bobbie is stuck in a rut, after an affair with an old friend her partners left her and moved abroad and Bobbie is now living with her brother in his spare room.
She’s just taken on a new residential job looking after an old lady which also coincides with Wimbledon.
Chapters feel half formed but most explained. Words match to tennis speak too in how she explains her domestic situations and how she speaks to those around her.
A fairly short book of a woman late 30’s/early 40’s finding herself adrift. Trying to still feel the frisson of excitement in her life full of monotony.
A nice read would like more though!

[Awesome Indies Book Awards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome Indies Book Awards is pleased to include BREAK POINT by KATE RIGBY in the library of Awesome Indies' Badge of Approval recipients.

Original Awesome Indies' Assessment (5 stars):

Had me from the return volley

Kate Rigby's Break Point did not, actually, immediately grab me, but from the second or third page when I had begun to decipher the quirky UK voice and the beginnings of the plot, I was snagged and rode the smooth narration along for the reminder of the novella.

Inside, Robina is a thirty or forty-something caregiver at Carewise, and she takes on an elderly woman living not far from her apartment. Gwen is a tough one, demanding, and all Robina wants to do is catch every single play during this year's Wimbledon. She quickly moves into Gwen's house, upstairs, and just as quickly the relationship with her client sours as soon as it's evident that Robina wants to work her appointed hours and no more, and that she's all about the tennis.

There are lots of things to like about this book, and the most outstanding two were the dialogue and the narrative voice. Robina shows off her upbringing, her politics, and her past with excellent slang and colloquialisms that are quintessentially British, and which bring an otherwise normal, everyday situation to vivid, interesting life. As well, the dialogue was lifelike, silky smooth, awkward (but always intentionally so), which really gave the characters life and struck tension beautifully. The reader is often left to wonder what sort of response this dialogue ought to provoke from the various speakers, which reminded me of the dialogue of Hemingway. I'm heartened when the author thinks enough of the reader's intelligence not to lay every detail out straight. There's space between the lines, and I was happy to fill it with my own conclusions.

In addition readers gain the benefits of a steady pace, neither too fast or wallowing-in-details slow, an impressive array of memorable characters, including a Holden Caulfield's girlfriend type character, and a winning extended metaphor with tennis.

I mentioned the first page because I'm not British, and I was utterly and hopelessly lost by the way the narrative threw me in, right in the midst of everything in Bobbie's life: her present and her past are both there, a sort of tsunami that had me drowning at first.

Once I picked up on what was going on though, the remainder of the book was nearly flawless. Ultimately the book speaks about the drudgery of day in, day out existence and how it can crush the most closely held beliefs and impassioned ideals, and it's done without any rancid bitterness or soppy nostalgia. Break Point walks the line between those, and this line judge cannot find fault with it.

Five enthusiastic stars.�

[Keith Nixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s June 1999 and Wimbledon is about to get underway. Robina, recently out of a long term relationship and looking for a new path in life takes a job as the carer for Gwen, a largely housebound old lady. As Robina learns more about Gwen she has more questions than answers, in particular what happened to her daughter Rosemary?

Kate Rigby writes with an unconventional style. This is not a complaint, merely an observation. Some readers will appreciate it, others I guess will not. Thankfully, I sit in the former camp. Rigby writes with a local vernacular in punchy terms. It adds layer and depth to the first person narrative.

I’ve previously reviewed Flamingo Circus, which was, in effect, a coming of age diary that occurred over several years. However in Break Point we have quite a different beast. It is fundamentally an exploration of relationships – between Robina and a variety of people. Gwen (the eventually overbearing woman she’s caring for with her own secret), June (the ex-girlfriend we never meet), Tash (the person who split June and Robina up) and Elliot (her brother). Finally throw Shari, provocative colleague exploring her sexuality, into the mix and there’s a slow-burn melting pot of emotions.

Interestingly the story takes place with the back drop of the Wimbledon tennis tournament. The author draws parallels between events and the particular game / players on at the time. As the finals near, the events wind to a crescendo and a neat little twist.

Overall an enjoyable read.

**Originally reviewed for Books and Pals blog. May have received free review copy.**

[Priya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story that revolves around the protagonist's love for and memories of watching Wimbledon.
Bobbie has a new job caring for old Gwen McMahon but she will not miss watching Wimbledon matches. As the tournament progresses, other carers of her charge come and go.
She also discovers Gwen has a daughter Rosemary and wonders what happened to her.
I found some parts of the story difficult to understand.

[Greta Halliday · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written but for me, mundane story of a middle aged woman looking for excitement in her life. Too short and rather boring but that is only my personal opinion as I usually love this authors works.

[Bridget McKeown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. Great story told around the Wimbledon weeks.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its about a carer looking after an elderly named Gwen and watching Wimbledon on TV. There are other carers that come and go. Plus a touch of romance.