Is The Secret Woman Based on a True Story?

Helmed by Barbara Topsøe-Rothenborg, ‘The Secret Woman,’ or ‘Den Hemmelige Kvind,’ tells the story of Natalie, whose loving, peaceful life gets overturned after it is discovered that she has amnesia, and that her real family has been looking for her for years. As it turns out, her real name is Helene Söderberg; she is the heir to a shipping empire and, more importantly, is married and has a child. Everything seemingly changed in her life around the death of her father, and the last thing that she remembers is standing around a bridge.

Now, years later, and with two completely different lives, all that is left for her to do is walk back and put the pieces of this elaborate puzzle back together. However, what she doesn’t know yet is that a massive conspiracy might be hiding in plain sight, all revolving around her not remembering what happened. Throughout this Norwegian psychological thriller movie, Helene’s perspective becomes fundamental to exploring the nuances of family relationships and how changes in memory can completely reshape one’s life.

The Secret Woman is a Fictional Tale Drawing From Classic Works of Family Drama

‘The Secret Woman’ is a work of fiction based on a novel of the same name by the Danish writing duo Anders Rønnow Klarlund and Jacob Weinreich, who go by the collective pseudonym Anna Ekberg. When conceptualizing the story, the authors knew that they wanted to dabble in family drama, and to do that, they traced how the genre has evolved over several generations. In a conversation with Julia Lahme, the duo revealed that their primary models were the novel ‘Doctor Zhivago’ and the TV show ‘The Colorado Saga.’ While both stories deal with themes of trauma and secrets, there are also more direct overlaps, such as the presence of a corpse in a lake in ‘The Secret Woman’ being a direct nod to the iconic scene from ‘The Colorado Saga.’

Another thing that Klarlund and Weinreich wanted to explore was the concept of identity, and how it is affected by a loss of memory, and we see this perfectly come to life in the book, as well as its film adaptation. In the same vein, the authors also wanted a woman to lead the story, as for them, it makes for a more psychologically complex characterization. The duo also pointed out Alfred Hitchcock‘s fascination with mysterious women and hidden identities, evident in some of his most renowned films, be it ‘Vertigo,’ ‘Rebecca,’ ‘Marnie,’ or others. While ‘The Secret Woman’ may not directly draw from any of these works, it carries very similar creative interests.

Anna Ekberg, as a Pseudonym, Was Created Specifically For The Secret Woman

‘The Secret Woman’ is not the first time authors Anders Rønnow Klarlund and Jacob Weinreich have collaborated on a novel, as prior to its release, they had shared the pseudonym A.J. Kazinski, penning books like ‘The Last Good Man,’ ‘The Promised Land,’ and ‘The Death of the Dream Reader.’ The switch from Kazinski to the name Anna Ekberg is actually connected to ‘The Secret Woman’ itself, as they revealed in the interview with Julia Lahme. Describing the name as a representation of their feminine side, they noted that writing as Ekberg allowed them to channel their thoughts on love, family, and relationships in a new light. Klarlund and Weinreich noted that their Anna Ekberg novels essentially ask whether men and women can have happy marriages, which explains the novels’ unique flair.

The Netflix adaptation of the novel, penned by Anders Frithiof August and Barbara Topsøe-Rothenborg, makes a few changes to the source material while largely retaining its narrative core. For instance, the setting of the story is shifted from the Danish island of Læsø to the island of Hidra, in Norway, which likely has its own impact on how the story moves from scene to scene. Ultimately, though, the larger story remains fictional in nature, following the literary conventions of amnesia plotlines.

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