Dear Monica Lewinsky by Julia Langbein
As someone who was a young teenager during the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, I can remember having strong feelings. How could the President of the United States act in such a way? But also — how could a young woman, not all that much older than myself, degrade herself?
Reframing Monica: From Scandal to Saint
Julia Langbein’s fictionalized retelling flipped the narrative completely — and, as a woman of a certain age who is a feminist, I couldn’t be happier.
Dear Monica Lewinsky is a loose interpretation of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. The story begins with Jean having a breakdown when receiving an invitation to attend a reunion and retirement gathering for David Harwell, a professor who she had a short illicit affair with in 1998. She finds herself in the basement of a church, and begins praying to Monica Lewinsky, as she has noted similarities in her own behavior and how Monica was treated in 1998. Wonder of all wonders, Lewinsky appears to her in saint-like form. Saint Monica Lewinsky guides her through a series of flashbacks, allowing her to analyze her behavior.
The Jean of 1999 enters a study abroad program in France with a small group of other students. Leading the program are two professors, an older gentleman the students call Neary, and enigmatic 45 year old David. For Jean, there is instant attraction. The sexual tension builds, until it reaches its peak several days before the end of the program.
Langbein manages to bring levity to intense topics — adultery, seduction and men in power. It also offers several history lessons; she also interweaves short vignettes of feminist female saints in European history throughout the novel.
The Power of Perspective
Langbein creates incredible supporting characters. She wants you to really feel these characters, and I, indeed, felt the characters. For example, it is no secret that fellow student Judith has bulimia. In one particularly scene, Judith’s jaw is locked open due to TMJ; you can feel her fear — fear that the other students will know her secret, fear that David will find her less attractive, and fear that she will have to give up vomiting in the pursuit of thinness.
Langbein writes on her website, “There are several people named Julia Langbein, and I am at least three of them.” A chameleon of sorts, Langbein is highly educated — she has a PhD from the University of Chicago and then held a research fellowship at Oxford, as well as Trinity College Dublin. Before being an academic, she was a stand-up comedian in New York City and was the author of the viral blog, The Bruni Digest. She is an award-winning writer in the world of food, travel, and art genres, having been published in Gourmet, Frieze, and Artforum and winning a James Beard Award.
Langbein has now taken to writing fiction. Her debut novel was American Mermaid, which received rave reviews.
“But then hiding in there will be what he thinks is ‘bacon,’ that brown strip that cartoons eat for breakfast, but it will be handcut poitrine. An unbelievable, unexpected gift of fat, of unction, a pleasure so intense that you feel it behind your ears, on the outside of your throat; you feel touched by a hand on your forehead.”
Langbein’s prose in Dear Monica Lewinsky is eloquent; reading this novel is like opening a gift and wanting more — but maybe that’s the purpose.
About Julia Langbein:
Julia Langbein holds a doctorate in art history and is the author of the novel American Mermaid as well as a nonfiction book about comic art criticism. She has written about food, art, and travel for Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Eater, Salon, Frieze, and other publications, and received a 2024 James Beard Foundation Journalism Award. A native of Chicago, she lives outside of Paris with her family.
