A shockingly original first novel about one of the most passionate and unusual love stories of the 20th century

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?'

Set against the glitz and decadence of 1920s Copenhagen, Dresden, and Paris, The Danish Girl eloquently portrays the intimacy that defines a marriage and the nearly forgotten story of the love between a man who discovers that he is, in fact, a woman and the woman who would sacrifice anything for him. Uniting fact and fiction into a unique romantic vision, The Danish Girl explores the very heart of what connects men and women--and what separates them. But this book, like Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha, transcends the confines of sex and gender and historical place. Ultimately, The Danish Girl's lush prose and generous emotional insight make it, after the last page is turned, a love story that no reader will soon forget. With The Danish Girl, David Ebershoff will make one of the year's dazzling literary debuts.

David Ebershoff is the publishing director of The Modern Library, a division of Random House. Originally from Pasadena, Californiam, he now lives in New York City.