DEPTH OF FIELD

Competition winner Pippa is spending two weeks in New York City at a prestigious photography camp run by art college Tisch.

Though she’s had an entrancing date with romantic boyfriend Dylan, Pippa’s conflicted since he’s asked her not to contact him while she’s away. Then Ben turns up at Tisch; he stole photos from her in The Rule of Thirds (2013) and submitted them to the competition as his own. Pippa wants to hate him, but circumstances keep throwing them together, rekindling the sparks she felt before he betrayed her. Her mentor, the highly unreliable photographer David Westerly, provides guidance, but it’s his past connection to her deceased father and her mother that intrigues the 16-year-old. Paying more attention to that than to her Tisch work leads to a stunning and unwelcome discovery. The conclusion leaves many hanging threads. Pippa’s developing relationship with Ben, the uncertainty of Dylan’s intentions and the critical discovery about David’s connection to her parents—a secret her mother’s inexplicably kept even knowing Pippa would be in contact with David—all serve to set up another outing. Pippa’s voice, as she describes a severe hangover or her assessment of David, is amusingly honest.

Frothy yet engaging romance with a snapshot of the photography world to add color.