Climax

"'What we want to know now, Miss Emily, is if the rumour's true or not.'" (257)

I felt as though the climax was at this point, where Kathy and Tommy are in the house of Miss Emily, but they do not yet know if their journey will produce a deferral. This is the point in the book where I was held in the most suspense. I wanted to find out once and for all if they were going to get their second chance at love. Being told about the Gallery all through the book, i assumed this would be the happy ending! How could they not get the deferral? They missed their chance at love in their youth because of Ruth, and now, with Ruth's blessing they were going to fulfill her last wish. While making Ruth happy, they would also be able to live together happily and healthily (assuming Tommy that would recover) and live out the love story that they should have had since Hailsham. But, alas after the many paragraphs that we are held in suspension, the truth comes out which sends a message of seizing love the first time.