Seventeen-year-old Pippa is one of the many dancers in the Corps de Ballet chosen to go on an Italian tour. In Venice, Pippa catches the eye of Nicolo, a young gondolier. With poignancy and perception, Godden makes Pippa's unforseen awakening to a more grown-up, complex world, vividly alive--where innocence can so easily be corrupted and new surroundings and experiences dazzle and contort with their intensity.