23

WEDNESDAY

In Copenhagen in 1925, Greta Wegener is painting a portrait of a famous opera singer. One day, her subject doesn’t show up. So she asks her fine-boned husband, Einar, if he would mind slipping into her stockings and shoes so she can work on the painting. (Oh, and how about that beaded dress, too? I need to see how the hemline hits the knees, you know.) To the surprise of both, Einar digs it. Based on the true story of the first man to undergo a sex-change operation, David Ebershoff’s novel The Danish Girl explores not only Einar’s realizations about himself, but also Greta’s deepening love for her new muse. Ebershoff leads something of a double life himself—in addition to writing, he is publishing director of the Modern Library. Look at love from both sides now when Ebershoff reads from and signs copies of The Danish Girl at 7 p.m. at Olsson’s Books & Records, 1200 F St. NW. Free. (202) 347-3686. (Janet Hopf)