The Danish Girl
A stunning first novel that probes the mysteries of sex, gender, and love with insight and subtletyInspired by the true story of Danish painter Einar Wegener and his California-born wife, this tender portrait of a marriage asks: What do you do when someone you love wants to change? It starts with a question, a simple favor asked of a husband by his wife on an afternoon chilled by the Baltic wind while both are painting in their studio. Her portrait model has canceled, and would he mind slipping into a pair of women's shoes and stockings for a few moments so she can finish the painting on time. "Of course," he answers. "Anything at all." With that, one of the most passionate and unusual love stories of the twentieth century begins.
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Community Reviews
I've got praise and I've got criticism.
If you didn't know this story was based on an actual person, it would be an incredible novel set in a beautiful time in incredible places across the world. However, it is based on an actual person, and I don't think this depiction does justice for the real Lili.
My biggest issue is that the real Lili Elbe was a transgender person who changed everything for a modern understanding of trans people. She was incredible and bold, but this depcition doesn't depict a trans person and their transition. Instead we have the story of a person seeming to have disassociative identity disorder and for this reason I don't think this story should be as highly regarded as it is by the LGBTQ+ community.
If you didn't know this story was based on an actual person, it would be an incredible novel set in a beautiful time in incredible places across the world. However, it is based on an actual person, and I don't think this depiction does justice for the real Lili.
My biggest issue is that the real Lili Elbe was a transgender person who changed everything for a modern understanding of trans people. She was incredible and bold, but this depcition doesn't depict a trans person and their transition. Instead we have the story of a person seeming to have disassociative identity disorder and for this reason I don't think this story should be as highly regarded as it is by the LGBTQ+ community.
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