David Ebershoff’s *The Danish Girl* is being adapted to film starring Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron

David Ebershoff’s The Danish Girl is being made into a film, starring Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron.  Kidman will play the role of artist Einar Wegener, “the world’s first post-op male transsexual,” and Theron will act as Gerda, Wegener’s artist wife.  Aside from her starring role, Kidman is one of the producers for the film.  The full story is in this article at The Hollywood Reporter.

Here’s the publisher’s synopsis of The Danish Girl, Ebershoff’s debut novel (2000), which is loosely based on the true story of Elinar and Gerda:

Inspired 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.

I found Ebershoff’s The 19th Wife to be entertaining and well-written; the author himself is very personable, as I discovered when I met him at an author event, and later during an interview.  I’ve had both The Danish Girl and Pasadena on my wish list since I read The 19th Wife.  Now that a film is in the works, I have a deadline to read the novel before seeing the movie (so many books, so little time …)  Have any of you read The Danish Girl?  What do you think of the casting for the film?

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