How far would you go for fame?

A few years back, I read a book called Fake Accounts by Lauren Oyler, an irreverent (and notably blurbed by Zadie Smith) Berlin-set novel about a girl who discovers her boyfriend is not who he says he is. Most of the people I recommended it to didn’t like it.

I think Calla Henkel’s Other People’s Clothes will be the same way. Let me be clear: I loved it from the outset - far more than I loved Fake Accounts. It’s not often I meet a book that feels like a marriage of the two categories I love the most, but Henkel has crafted a true mélange: highbrow contemporary fiction meets pacy, campy thriller, jam-packed with pop-cultural references from a pre-iPhone, pre-Instagram era where People magazine and paparazzi pics still reigned supreme (2008). Oh, and it’s funny. Think Tàr, for the TikTok crowd.

I found out about this book - and added it to my mental list - all the way back in 2021, when it was first released. I happened upon it in countless bookstores, and never made the purchase - hesitation all down to one simple fact: it was set in Berlin.

Sure, we’ve all wondered whether we’d get into Berghain (a friend and I once decided that her dad, who only travels in golf polos, would get in, but that we would be rejected), but when I’m looking for an escapist piece of fiction, I’m not exactly itching to travel to somewhere gray, depressing, and severe.

Honestly, that may be why it took me to officially pick this one up. But from the first page, I was hooked. The bleak backdrop and unforgiving social scene of Berlin are perfect in this case; ideal canvases for the world our protagonist Zoe, and her best friend (and occasional antagonist) Hailey create.

It sounds like so much less than it is when you describe the plot: two girls go abroad to Berlin in the early aughts: a time mired in society’s collective fervor for fame at any cost: with a spotlight the ill-fated Perugia trip of one Amanda Knox. They find an incredible apartment to rent at a price they can afford - and it almost feels too good to be true. And, obviously: it is. Their landlord, Beatrice, is a semi-famous writer of murder mysteries. The girls soon become convinced that Beatrice is watching them - and Hailey, increasingly desperate at the lack of dent the girls have made in the Berlin social scene - decides to craft their lives into a narrative worth writing about.

It’s more than just a fun read - but it is that. From Hailey’s so-shocking-it’s-genuinely-funny lack of self-awareness to the way your paranoia will increase with Zoe’s own, there’s a lot to love about this book, even if you solely take it at face value. Beneath the surface, there’s even more. It’s a scathing take on the art world - and the performances people put on all for the sake of being perceived as “cool.”