lovesarahmae 's review for:

The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff
3.0

The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff is one of the most dynamic stories of a nontraditional experience I've ever read. The story of a transgender woman coming into her own, with her wife and family friends is both enlightening to the experience and heart-wrenching to follow. Neither advocating for or against the trans community, Ebershoff simply tells the emotional story from enough sides to show the true cost of living outside of one's self. The book was suggested to me by a trans coworker when I asked for Book Riot 2016 Read Harder Challenge suggestions, and it it spot on for the intent of the challenge, and the ideals of a diverse readership.

The novel follows a fictional life of a real person: Lili Elbe, one of the first transwomen to have re-assignment surgery. It feels at times a little rambley, and is less direct than many other stories about this subject- but this makes the novel more biopic than a simple slice of life. There is an element of treating transgender as a mental illness as well- which is uncomfortable for many modern readers but reflective of the time this historical drama is set it.

Ebershoff approached a delicate and politically wrought subject in this, his first novel, and he does so with courtesy and caring of a far more experienced author. Really, the story here isn't the transition between man and woman, but instead the evolution of love and relationships when the utterly unexpected happens. This is a story about standing by your loved ones through illness and changes and things you do not understand. It is a story about accepting wholeheartedly those around you. The writing is soft and easy to follow, the characters are rich with emotion and details, and the subject is handled complexly. Overall, this is a respectful representation of a proper old fashioned love-in-marriage story.