The author has stated that the novel does not try to tell a true story. Ebershoff not only imagined most of what he wrote about Elbe's inner life, but also fabricated all of the other characters in the book, most important among them Wegener's blue-blooded American-born wife, Gerda Wegener.
In 2015, The Danish Girl was adapted into a film, directed by Tom Hooper.
Summary
The story takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark. Lili (then going as Einar) is happily married to her wife, Gerda Wegener. Lili was raised with her best friend Hans. Gerda was raised in California with her twin brother Carlisle. She eventually moved to Denmark, first meeting Lili at the Royal Academy before unfortunately separating due to World War I. During their separation, Gerda marries another man and has a child, with the child unfortunately dying at birth and her husband dying of tuberculosis. Gerda moves back to Denmark and marries Lili, the couple becoming painters with Lili painting mostly landscapes and Gerda painting portraits.
One day, Anna Fonsmark, a friend of Gerda, cancels her scheduled painting session with Gerda. Gerda, needing to have the painting finished as soon as possible, requests Lili to model as Anna. The session is interrupted with Anna suddenly entering their home, and Anna is the first to give Lili her new name.
Some time later, Lili and Gerda are invited to the annual Artists' Ball, and Gerda convinces Lili to wear a dress again. During the ball, Lili meets a man named Henrik Sandahl, and the two start a short-lived relationship, which Gerda discourages for she fears that Lili might be hurting Henrik by deceiving him.
Lili then starts having many nosebleeds and stomachaches, which leads to Gerda making Lili visit a doctor named Dr. Hexler. Gerda's true intentions however are actually to see if there is a tumor developing in her pelvis, for she believes that if a tumor were indeed there, it might be the cause of the nosebleeds, stomachaches, and psychological problems. Hexler performs an X-ray on Lili and sees that there is no tumor; however, he tells Gerda that he discourages Lili from expressing her femininity.
Gerda starts to paint Lili more often, and these paintings spark popularity for Gerda. In doing so, Lili continues to feel even more confusion with her sense of identity. Later on, Gerda, meets Doctor Alfred Bolk. Bolk is interested in helping Lili undergo a vaginoplasty, to which Lili agrees. Bolk transfers to Dresden and Lili soon follows.
The first operation removes Lili's testicles, but during the operation, Bolk reveals that Lili was supposed had undeveloped ovaries in her body the whole time, which he discloses to Gerda and restores in a succeeding operation.
Lili and Gerda then return to Denmark. Lili and Henrik fall in love, and Henrik then proposes to Lili and Hans asks Gerda to move with him to America. Bolk manages to contact Lili and tells her of a final operation; one that will give Lili a uterus to be able to become a mother. Lili tells Gerda of the operation, to which Gerda discourages as she finds it to be "too dangerous." Lili, however, insists, and ultimately goes forth with the surgery.
The surgery, however, was a failure as it has been found that an infection has grown inside Lili after the operation. Whether Lili lives or dies is unclear.[2]
In The New York Times Book Review, novelist and critic John Burnham Schwartz called the novel "arresting": "I hope people will read The Danish Girl. It is fascinating and humane."[1] Critic Richard Bernstein wrote in The New York Times, "Mr. Ebershoff is telling us that love does involve a small dark space. The intelligence and tactfulness of his exploration of it make his novel a noteworthy event."[3]
Translations
The novel has been translated into more than ten languages and is published in paperback by Penguin.
Nora Ephron was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing romantic comedy films and received numerous accolades including a British Academy Film Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award and three Writers Guild of America Awards.
Lili Ilse Elvenes, better known as Lili Elbe, was a Danish painter, transgender woman, and one of the earliest recipients of sex reassignment surgery.
Gerda Marie Fredrikke Wegener was a Danish illustrator and painter. Wegener is known for her fashion illustrations and later her paintings that pushed the boundaries of her time concerning gender and love. These works were classified as lesbian erotica at times and many were inspired by her partner, transgender painter Lili Elbe. Wegener employed these works in the styles of Art Nouveau and later Art Deco.
Nyhavn is a 17th-century waterfront, canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen, Denmark. Stretching from Kongens Nytorv to the Inner Harbour just south of the Royal Playhouse, it is lined by brightly coloured 17th and early 18th century townhouses and bars, cafes and restaurants. The canal harbours many historical wooden ships.
David Ebershoff is an American writer, editor, and teacher. His debut novel, The Danish Girl, was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film of the same name in 2015, while his third novel, The 19th Wife, was adapted into a television movie of the same name in 2010.
Copenhagen City Hall is the headquarters of the Copenhagen City Council as well as the Lord mayor of the Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. The building is situated on City Hall Square in central Copenhagen.
Edward John David "Eddie" Redmayne is an English actor. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Olivier Awards.
Helen Deutsch was an American screenwriter, journalist, and songwriter.
Lucinda Coxon is an English playwright and screenwriter. She was born in Derby.
Charlottenborg Palace is a large town mansion located on the corner of Kongens Nytorv and Nyhavn in Copenhagen, Denmark. Originally built as a residence for Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve, it has served as the base of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts since its foundation in 1754. Today it also houses Kunsthal Charlottenborg, an institution for contemporary art, and Danmarks Kunstbibliotek, the Royal Art Library.
The Danish Girl is a 2015 biographical romantic drama film directed by Tom Hooper, based on the 2000 novel of the same title by David Ebershoff, and loosely inspired by the lives of Danish painters Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. The film stars Eddie Redmayne as Elbe, one of the first known recipients of gender-affirming surgery, Alicia Vikander as Wegener, and Sebastian Koch as Kurt Warnekros, with Ben Whishaw, Amber Heard, and Matthias Schoenaerts in supporting roles.
Ulla Poulsen Skou, formerly Baroness Ulla Rosenørn-Lehn, was a Danish ballerina and actress. She was a soloist at the Royal Danish Ballet and is best known for being the subject of a series of portraits by Gerda Wegener.
The 19th Wife is a 2008 novel by David Ebershoff. Inspired by the life of Ann Eliza Young, the novel intertwines a historical narrative with a modern-day murder mystery.
Alicia Amanda Vikander is a Swedish actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and three British Academy Film Awards.
Melanie Ann Oliver is a New Zealand film editor. She is best known for her works in the films Anna Karenina (2012), Les Misérables (2012), The Danish Girl (2015) and Victoria & Abdul (2017).
Kurt Warnekros was a German gynaecologist and pioneer in sex reassignment surgery.
Hanne Marie Svendsen is a Danish writer and former broadcasting executive. She has written works on Danish literature, plays and novels, including the award-winning Guldkuglen (1985), published in English as The Gold Ball in 1989.
The Danish Girl (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album composed by Alexandre Desplat for the 2015 film The Danish Girl. It was released by Decca Records on 27 November 2015, the same day as the film’s theatrical release in the United States.
↑ Richard Bernstein, "'The Danish Girl': Radical Change and Enduring Love," The New York Times, February 14, 2000. ("The historical fact is that in 1931 a Danish painter named Einar Wegener became the first man ever to be transformed surgically into a woman, changing her name to Lili Elbe and eventually leaking her story to the press. In 'The Danish Girl' David Ebershoff uses the bare facts of Wegener-Elbe's story to summon a rich imagined universe in which the main event is less the sexual transformation itself than the way that transformation affected other people.")
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