msklm 's review for:

The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff
3.0

While I know many people who are or have gone through similar journeys in their lives, nothing compares to this insightful view of what it might have been like for Lili Elbe and Greta Waud during the early part of this century, when they were the first to experience this transition.

I was deeply affected by Mr. Ebershoff's raw honesty and compassion for the situation these women found themselves facing and (while I am aware much of this is highly fictionalized) thank him for not painting either of them as the victim. Both Lili and Greta were shown to be strong women more than capable of making choices and taking actions to define their own fates, and Einar is let go of with a sense of love and loss, not with scorn or insensitivity.

A remarkable work created in an attempt to foster understanding and draw attention to stories such as these, which is sincerely welcome today.