A woman plagued by the memory of a college affair with a professor finds insight and understanding through a surprising spiritual guide in Dear Monica Lewinsky, a witty and emotional exploration of young womanhood by Julia Langbein (American Mermaid).
"Saint Monica Lewinsky was consecrated by the collective force of the American conscience during the second decade of the second millennium AD," concludes the prologue, a tale of secular martyrdom that precedes the story of Jean Dornan. Between her sophomore and junior years of college, Jean became entangled with a professor while studying in France. The aftermath left her unmoored, but 20 years later, an invitation to his retirement party sets her truly spiraling. She turns to her old diary and makes a connection for the first time: the year of the affair was the year of the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal. Realizing how callously she had written about Lewinsky, Jean calls out to her for forgiveness. Saint Monica appears.
With plenty of heart and a keen eye for human nature, Langbein depicts Saint Monica guiding Jean on a journey through the summer of the affair. Dear Monica Lewinsky shifts between Jean's present and her past, while interspersing stories of female saints who were characterized into the roles of virgin or whore. Revisiting her past through adult eyes, Jean comes to understand not only how completely her professor failed her but also the power that her young self exercised, for better or worse, in her naïveté. This incisively funny academic satire is nuanced and thought provoking. --Kristen Allen-Vogel, information services librarian at Dayton Metro Library