A review by hyzenthlay76
The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida

5.0

I love this writer. Her characters are often somewhat spartan and detached - she reminds me of Lorrie Moore in that way - but with awkward quirks that make them relatable at the same time. The brilliance of The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty rests in its screenplay-like exposition, nearly all action as we are almost imperceptibly seduced into inhabiting the main character (who remains nameless) through disconcerting second-person point of view, just as she inhabits various identities throughout the book. The imagery of clothing and costumes is utterly tangible. The timing of the emotional revelation is perfect and wouldn't work otherwise. This book perfectly captures that disorienting but intoxicating feeling of anonymity that comes from being alone in a foreign country, and also the terrifying leap of leaving it all behind, of "radical evolution."