The Danish Girl

David Ebershoff's THE DANISH GIRL (2000) is an engaging, often very moving, fact-based novel about Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe, a Danish artist who was supposedly the first person to undergo gender reassignment surgery in 1930 at a clinic in Dresden. The characters are very believable, as Ebershoff traces the early lives of both Wegener and the woman he would marry, Greta Waud, also an artist, who recognizes her husband is a woman trapped inside a man's body, and helps him to "become Lili." (And the descriptions of the pain and recovery periods from the surgeries are difficult to read.)

This is a hard book to summarize or characterize, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, but Ebershoff is a marvelous writer, who captured not just the show more two main characters and their strange love story and journey together, but also the feel and the settings of 1920s Denmark, France, Germany and California (where Greta grew up in a very wealthy family).

The book won some awards when it was new, but gained more fame after it was adapted to the screen about fifteen years later. I've not seen the movie, but I will very strongly recommend this novel, which puts human faces on and gives voices to the whole LGBTQ movement.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

"Why don't we call you Lili?"
By sally tarbox on 12 May 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
Fictionalized account of the life of Danish artist Einar Wegener who was one of the first to undergo gender-reassignment surgery in 1930 Germany. Supported by his painter wife Greta, for whom - in his alter-ego of Lili Elbe - he was a frequent model, this is a compulsive and desperately sad read. It movingly portrays the sufferings entailed by surgery in its infancy and a marriage struggling to survive when each has their own dreams - Lili longs for a husband and her own child, while Grete watches the man she married gradually appearing less and less till she observes 'Einar is dead'.

Shame it's not an entirely true representation of the Wegeners' life: show more Greta (here a Californian) was in fact all-Danish Gerda. But an extremely well-written and interesting narrative. show less

Interesting, well-written, lots of psychological levels here....Set in 1925-30 Europe (Copenhagen, Paris, Dresden) it is the story of Greta and Einar Wegener, 2 artists each with an interesting past the other doesn't know much about. When Greta's portrait subject, an opera singer, can't make her pose appointment, Greta recruits her husband Einar to put on her dress and shoes and pose instead. A whole tidal wave of change is set in motion with that simple act. Einar begins to dress as a woman more frequently and even assumes a name for him/herself in that role: Lily. Eventually he wants to actually become Lily and German Dr. Boulk takes on the sex change surgery which is revolutionary at the time. This is a long, slow process and to see show more Greta and Einar's relationship evolve along with Einar's transformation is very touching. She is 100% supportive even though it means losing her husband. Things become complicated too (what a tangled web we weave) when Greta starts to paint Lily and begins to have international success as an artist. Einar's career had been the successful one prior to this. And his creative energy is now channeled inward as he becomes a new person. Another layer of complication is the introduction of Hans, Einar's boyhood friend (and crush) who is an art dealer, represents Greta's work, but also has designs on her. Though this is all very soap-opera-ish it doesn't come across that way due to the deft and understated story telling. What was surprising (and hard to swallow) was the acceptance in that time period of Einar's transformation. Yes, they are bohemian artists, and yes, this is Europe, but Nazism is on the rise in Germany and there are still so many sexual taboos in that era. Greta's twin brother, Carlisle is wholly supportive as is Hans and Anna, the opera singer, not to mention all Dr. Boulk's affiliations. When Lily wants to undergo a final surgery to have a uterus implanted and possibly bear children, some of that support wavers, especially Greta's. She is not objecting to the surgery itself, but Lily's weakness and ability to survive it. The ending is rather ambiguous if symbolic and left me wanting more. Part Pygmalion, part Icarus, it is still a fascinating, well done look at the need to be true to self and the grace of others to accept it. show less

The Short of It:

A non-traditional love story that will stay with you long after you put it down.

The Rest of It:

I absolutely loved this novel. The novel itself was inspired by the marriage of Einar and Gerda Wegener, both artists living in Copenhagen in 1925. As Einar realizes that he is indeed a woman, seemingly trapped in a man's body, he becomes Lili and the three of them live together as a family of sorts. At first, he dresses as Lili in the privacy of the apartment that he shares with Greta but as the weeks pass and with the support of Greta, he begins to allow Lili to take short shopping trips. After several outings, Lili is introduced as Einar's sister and even attends a few social gatherings. As her confidence grows, Greta sees show more less and less of Einar and she realizes that soon her husband may not exist at all.

Ebershoff paints Einar as a very delicate creature. Here is an example:

"Einar pressed the side of his face into the pillow. He fell asleep again. There he was, Greta's huband. With his fine skin, and his small head with the temples that dented softly, almost like a baby's. With his nose flaring with breath. With his smell of turpentine and talc. With the skin around his eyes, red and nearly on fire. "

The love that Greta has for her husband is what encourages her to support his transformation. As afraid as she is of losing Einar, she feels that his happiness means more to her than their marriage. Once she accepts this, she begins to seek medical advice which results in Einar's permanent gender modification. The first of its kind.

There are some very tender moments and some very difficult decisions made. Lili is surrounded by supportive friends as she completes the transformation but where does this leave Greta? Greta misses Einar yet she loves Lili and realizes that at some point, she must let Lili live her own life.

I'm telling you, this story just broke my heart but in a wonderful, "ball up your hankie and shed a tear" kind of way. This is my book club's pick for this month (selected by me) and the meeting is tomorrow so I have to wait a day to hear what they thought of it but I am hoping that they enjoyed it as much as I did.

The other item that I want to mention is that The Danish Girl is being made into a movie and will star Nicole Kidman as Einar/Lili and Charlize Theron as Greta. How's that for casting?

David Ebershoff also wrote The 19th Wife, which I know a lot of you have read. The Danish Girl was his first novel. show less

Greta is a woman of a wealthy California background who goes to Denmark to study art and there falls in love with Einar, a man who increasingly considers himself to be female. It is Greta who encourages her then husband to dress in women's clothing as she brings about her own artistic success from the outstanding paintings she does of him in his female persona of Lili.

This may sound like a bizarre story, but it's exquisitely written in a way that celebrates the love between Greta and Einar/Lili. As the couple travels between Denmark, France, and Germany, we fear for their relationship and, even more, for Lili's health as she suffers from mysterious bleeding episodes, becomes hauntingly thin, and endures several sex-changing operations. show more Though this book has a difficult theme, it is handled with tact and aplomb.

In the end, I felt that this was a sad story. That individuals who love one another have to change their station in life due to circumstances beyond their control and to endure emotional issues that are directly related to physical issues also beyond their control is distressing. The ending of this story left me with that deep kind of sadness. show less

Read: March 2016
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is a very gentle, quiet book, which I wasn’t expecting considering the intense and emotional subject matter. The Danish Girl is based on the life of a young painter named Einar, who with the help of his wife Greta, discovers a previously repressed side of his personality who he calls Lili.
The book really allows you to get inside Einar’s mind and empathise with his situation; he has to separate these two distinct personalities that live in the same body, to the point that when he is Lili, he forgets Einar’s childhood memories, and when he is Einar, he doesn’t remember what he did or where he went as Lili.

The story was very compelling and the fact that it is based on a real person who show more ultimately died in her pursuit to become a ‘real’ woman makes The Danish Girl an ultimately tragic story. show less

Novel inspired by the true story of Danish painter Einar Wegener and his California-born wife Gerda. Einar had sex reassignment surgery in 1930 and published a series of essays about her experience in the Danish press. This book explores their marriage, in which Gerda was supportive of her husband in his transition. It’s a very interesting subject, and I thought Ebershoff handled it well. I have a couple of quibbles, like about how every man falls in love with him when he’s dressed as Lili, but aside from that I liked it a lot.