“The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty” by Vendela Vida

Anybody who knows me well knows two things: I want everyone to be romantically paired off and I do not like visiting the sets of my dad’s movies. When I visit him while he is making a movie, he is not my dad but a “movie director” complete with the razor sharp concentration at all times that the job requires. He is so absorbed by the process, that he once mistook me for a member of craft service and asked me if white fish was being served for lunch. So I visit each movie set ever so briefly, not dressed like a lunch lady, and I have done this 18 times. But don’t get me wrong: I am fascinated by the movie making business, love my dad and I often think it would be fun to visit the movie set of another famous director, one not named dad. This book gave me the opportunity to do just that. “The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty” is a literary thriller written by Vendela Vida, who also wrote another terrific book called “Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name.” I like to know who people are dating, and she is married to writer Dave Eggers, so that is cool, too. In this book, Vida weaves the tale of a woman who travels to Casablanca, Morocco, gets robbed of her passport and all identification and winds up a stand-in on a movie set for a famous actress. The main character’s time spent with the film crew and the famous movie star is fascinating. If I lost my ID in a foreign country I would be throwing a diva-worthy hissy fit. But this woman seems perfectly content to leave her old life behind and try on a new one just to see how it fits over her skin. The theme of having your own identity or having the freedom to choose a new identity is an interesting one, and a theme well handled by Vida, who writes beautifully.  To purchase this book on Amazon click here.