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Dear Monica Lewinsky
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Expected 14 Apr 26Win a free print copy of this book!
18 days and 23:42:32
5 copies available
U.S. only
Forty-five-year old Jean Dornan cannot escape the shadow of something that happened several decades ago. During a study abroad program in France she had a deeply inappropriate relationship with her professor. When the professor contacts her out of the blue to invite her to his retirement ceremony, she is jolted out of her malaise and filled with the need to understand why the affair derailed her life.
Rereading her old diaries, she is shocked to realize her relationship with the professor occurred during the summer of the Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky scandal, yet she never saw the parallels. In a frenzy of guilt and regret, she finds herself praying to Monica Lewinsky—as if she were some kind of secular saint, the patron of persecuted and demonized women, perhaps?—and begging Monica’s forgiveness for not understanding everything they had in common. To her shock, Saint Monica appears to her and leads her back in time to reassess what happened. Had Jean merely been weak, stupid, and blind, as she has told herself for years? What was it about her that led to the affair? What did she really do that summer?
Told in flashbacks of those six weeks that changed Jean's life, interspersed with irreverent accounts of real female martyrs and visitations from Saint Monica, Dear Monica Lewinsky is a tender, hilarious, and thought-provoking examination of desire and how it shapes us. It is also a timely examination of what grace and forgiveness look like, in our lives and throughout history.
Rereading her old diaries, she is shocked to realize her relationship with the professor occurred during the summer of the Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky scandal, yet she never saw the parallels. In a frenzy of guilt and regret, she finds herself praying to Monica Lewinsky—as if she were some kind of secular saint, the patron of persecuted and demonized women, perhaps?—and begging Monica’s forgiveness for not understanding everything they had in common. To her shock, Saint Monica appears to her and leads her back in time to reassess what happened. Had Jean merely been weak, stupid, and blind, as she has told herself for years? What was it about her that led to the affair? What did she really do that summer?
Told in flashbacks of those six weeks that changed Jean's life, interspersed with irreverent accounts of real female martyrs and visitations from Saint Monica, Dear Monica Lewinsky is a tender, hilarious, and thought-provoking examination of desire and how it shapes us. It is also a timely examination of what grace and forgiveness look like, in our lives and throughout history.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication April 14, 2026
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About the author
Julia Langbein
6 books93 followersJULIA LANGBEIN, a sketch and standup comedian for many years, holds a doctorate in Art History and is the author of a non-fiction book about comic art criticism (Laugh Lines, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2022).
She wrote the viral comedy blog The Bruni Digest (2003-7), which reviewed New York Times critic Frank Bruni’s restaurant reviews every week and has since written about food, art and travel for Gourmet, Eater, Salon, Frieze and other publications.
A native of Chicago, she lives outside of Paris with her family.
She wrote the viral comedy blog The Bruni Digest (2003-7), which reviewed New York Times critic Frank Bruni’s restaurant reviews every week and has since written about food, art and travel for Gourmet, Eater, Salon, Frieze and other publications.
A native of Chicago, she lives outside of Paris with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
September 25, 2025
* thanks to Doubleday for the NetGalley review copy (pub date: April 14, 2026)
This is one of those books that's going to be really hard for me to talk about without sounding like an absolute lunatic, and all I want to do is talk about how fantastic it is and how much I LOVED it. The entire concept of a woman (approximately) my age realizing how her own situation as a college student paralleled Monica Lewinsky's experiences -- and recognizing just how unbelievably terrible we all were in the way we thought about Monica -- and then praying to Saint Monica -- and then Saint Monica APPEARING and snarkily talking her through it all -- is nothing short of BRILLIANT.
The interstitial bits summarizing and retelling the stories of female martyrs, all led to their path of suffering due to gross men, were all so tragic and painfully hilarious, especially the opening section telling Monica's story. I absolutely adored everything about this book and want everyone to read it. Definitely picking it for book club!
5000 stars
This is one of those books that's going to be really hard for me to talk about without sounding like an absolute lunatic, and all I want to do is talk about how fantastic it is and how much I LOVED it. The entire concept of a woman (approximately) my age realizing how her own situation as a college student paralleled Monica Lewinsky's experiences -- and recognizing just how unbelievably terrible we all were in the way we thought about Monica -- and then praying to Saint Monica -- and then Saint Monica APPEARING and snarkily talking her through it all -- is nothing short of BRILLIANT.
The interstitial bits summarizing and retelling the stories of female martyrs, all led to their path of suffering due to gross men, were all so tragic and painfully hilarious, especially the opening section telling Monica's story. I absolutely adored everything about this book and want everyone to read it. Definitely picking it for book club!
5000 stars
September 7, 2025
My favorite non-horror book of the year by far.
September 29, 2025
This book was FANTASTIC. Julia Langbein is a brilliant writer. This book was so sharp, witty, smart, quirky, and unputdownable. Somehow, Julia Langbein can make trauma, nuns, and 11th century architecture both sassy and wildly funny.
It's clear by her writing that art history is a subject that is completely within the author's wheelhouse because that confidence shows on the page and makes for an extremely engaging read. I also read her other novel, American Mermaid, and loved it but this book is so wildly different and so much better (in my opinion).
This book alternates between present day Jean in New Jersey (unfulfilled and unsatisfied with work and love) and 1998 Jean (smart, hopeful, naive virgin from Rutgers) studying abroad in France for 6 weeks. For most of the book, Jean is reflecting on her time in France, enjoying life, making friends, and cooking in the time leading up to the event that she believes irreparably altered her future and the person she is today. During this trip, Jean has an experience eerily similar to that of Monica Lewinsky. Now seeing the parallels in the present, she regrets how she reacted to the news in 1998 and prays to Monica,"exalted as the patron saint of those who suffer venal public shaming and patriarchal cruelty."
Throughout Jean's reflection on her past, she talks and prays to Monica and in return, Monica delivers some truly hilarious one-liners.
The book is also punctuated with chapters of female martyrs throughout history. Many of whom had a church built on them after.
The common thread of women existing to please men and take responsibility for the actions of men against women runs throughout the book and affects every character. All the female characters in the study abroad program in France exist in relation to men in some way. Whether it be an eating disorder, leaving early for a boyfriend, settling for a man who can provide security instead of love, some just acting subservient to get what they want in the end, and some who are taken advantage of by the men in power. Reading this book through a lens with a subtle feminist edge also just shows how brilliant of a writer Julia Langbein is.
I strongly recommend everyone read this book - I can't wait to buy it when it comes out. Will be recommending to all my friends.
Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the eARC!
It's clear by her writing that art history is a subject that is completely within the author's wheelhouse because that confidence shows on the page and makes for an extremely engaging read. I also read her other novel, American Mermaid, and loved it but this book is so wildly different and so much better (in my opinion).
This book alternates between present day Jean in New Jersey (unfulfilled and unsatisfied with work and love) and 1998 Jean (smart, hopeful, naive virgin from Rutgers) studying abroad in France for 6 weeks. For most of the book, Jean is reflecting on her time in France, enjoying life, making friends, and cooking in the time leading up to the event that she believes irreparably altered her future and the person she is today. During this trip, Jean has an experience eerily similar to that of Monica Lewinsky. Now seeing the parallels in the present, she regrets how she reacted to the news in 1998 and prays to Monica,"exalted as the patron saint of those who suffer venal public shaming and patriarchal cruelty."
Throughout Jean's reflection on her past, she talks and prays to Monica and in return, Monica delivers some truly hilarious one-liners.
The book is also punctuated with chapters of female martyrs throughout history. Many of whom had a church built on them after.
The common thread of women existing to please men and take responsibility for the actions of men against women runs throughout the book and affects every character. All the female characters in the study abroad program in France exist in relation to men in some way. Whether it be an eating disorder, leaving early for a boyfriend, settling for a man who can provide security instead of love, some just acting subservient to get what they want in the end, and some who are taken advantage of by the men in power. Reading this book through a lens with a subtle feminist edge also just shows how brilliant of a writer Julia Langbein is.
I strongly recommend everyone read this book - I can't wait to buy it when it comes out. Will be recommending to all my friends.
Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the eARC!
October 1, 2025
Thank you to Doubleday Books for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Dear Monica Lewinsky is a surprisingly poignent, often funny tale of an inappropriate summer romance retold by a woman in reflection years later. Jean, a 45 year old in flux, feels as if she’s had her whole life path put out of alignment following a fateful summer abroad in France, studying medieval architecture. When an invitation arrives to her former professor/lover’s retirement party, she recounts her summer with the help of none other than a deified, omnipotent version of Monica Lewinsky.
This book paints a beautiful picture of pastoral France in the summer. Even if you totally bag the plot, you can really dig in to the vivid images of crumbling churches, medieval art, sun drenched country sides and ill-fated sheep. If you’re even a casual Francophile, you’ll drink in the references to Pastis, the Pont Sainte-Michel, and a weird little European aristocrat.
The thing that makes this accuracy with which Jean is written. She is all at once naive and childish, yearning and aggressive. She pursues an older man, completely unaware of the reality she’s in, completely unaware of what will happen to her psychologically. She has talents; she’s funny and a wonderful cook. She delights in Earthly pleasures, and denies herself nothing. At the same time she’s described by a classmate as “an empty vessel.” She’s disinterested, directionless, and entirely too focused on the wrong things. She’s a really well written character because she’s so layered and realistic. She’s flawed and yet somewhat relatable. Her main malfunction is her complete blind spot to how out of her depth she is, and how imbalanced the power is. It’s not until the very end that she realizes that despite the lasagnes and flirtations, she never really had equal footing at all.
Where I found this book to miss the mark is the Monica Lewinsky element. While, in the very last moments, she was instrumental, she lacked a very large punch during the majority of the book. I didn’t feel like the character was fully fleshed out. I understand why the choice of Monica Lewinsky, given the parallels in relationships. Could it be that it’s because she’s still alive and could have some sort of litigation ability that they didn’t give her much of a personality? Really, with the exception of the retelling of her story in the style of the saints, she could have been any female martyred deity. I didn’t hate the choice of character! I just thought the amount and the intensity was wrong. Give me more, or give me less, but the amount we got was wrong.
I think that this book will resonate deeply with a lot of women. Whether it’s feeling like you’re directionless and set on a path by something traumatic, a relationship that hinged on a power imbalance, or a feeling of being shamed and cast out for desire, there’s a lot to unpack. 4/5, I just wish we got more Monica!
Dear Monica Lewinsky is a surprisingly poignent, often funny tale of an inappropriate summer romance retold by a woman in reflection years later. Jean, a 45 year old in flux, feels as if she’s had her whole life path put out of alignment following a fateful summer abroad in France, studying medieval architecture. When an invitation arrives to her former professor/lover’s retirement party, she recounts her summer with the help of none other than a deified, omnipotent version of Monica Lewinsky.
This book paints a beautiful picture of pastoral France in the summer. Even if you totally bag the plot, you can really dig in to the vivid images of crumbling churches, medieval art, sun drenched country sides and ill-fated sheep. If you’re even a casual Francophile, you’ll drink in the references to Pastis, the Pont Sainte-Michel, and a weird little European aristocrat.
The thing that makes this accuracy with which Jean is written. She is all at once naive and childish, yearning and aggressive. She pursues an older man, completely unaware of the reality she’s in, completely unaware of what will happen to her psychologically. She has talents; she’s funny and a wonderful cook. She delights in Earthly pleasures, and denies herself nothing. At the same time she’s described by a classmate as “an empty vessel.” She’s disinterested, directionless, and entirely too focused on the wrong things. She’s a really well written character because she’s so layered and realistic. She’s flawed and yet somewhat relatable. Her main malfunction is her complete blind spot to how out of her depth she is, and how imbalanced the power is. It’s not until the very end that she realizes that despite the lasagnes and flirtations, she never really had equal footing at all.
Where I found this book to miss the mark is the Monica Lewinsky element. While, in the very last moments, she was instrumental, she lacked a very large punch during the majority of the book. I didn’t feel like the character was fully fleshed out. I understand why the choice of Monica Lewinsky, given the parallels in relationships. Could it be that it’s because she’s still alive and could have some sort of litigation ability that they didn’t give her much of a personality? Really, with the exception of the retelling of her story in the style of the saints, she could have been any female martyred deity. I didn’t hate the choice of character! I just thought the amount and the intensity was wrong. Give me more, or give me less, but the amount we got was wrong.
I think that this book will resonate deeply with a lot of women. Whether it’s feeling like you’re directionless and set on a path by something traumatic, a relationship that hinged on a power imbalance, or a feeling of being shamed and cast out for desire, there’s a lot to unpack. 4/5, I just wish we got more Monica!
December 19, 2025
Saint Monica’s words of “You can be the most virtuous woman in the world, and you’ll still carry the blame not just for your desire but everyone’s desire” have stuck with me specifically. This book really shows how powerful men take full advantage of women’s accomplishments and reputations, from the presidents to professors, and how it directly affects women afterward. As a woman, Jean’s journey with Monica felt so healing and validating to read from start to finish.
The imagery was also beautifully written and I felt like I was there visiting all the ancient French churches, joking around with Jean and her classmates at the castle lodging, eating the deliciously described Sunday meals, and receiving Saint Monica’s blessed kiss.
Thank you to NetGalley and DoubleDay Books Publishing for the early access!
The imagery was also beautifully written and I felt like I was there visiting all the ancient French churches, joking around with Jean and her classmates at the castle lodging, eating the deliciously described Sunday meals, and receiving Saint Monica’s blessed kiss.
Thank you to NetGalley and DoubleDay Books Publishing for the early access!
November 14, 2025
Easily one of my favorite books of the year.
2019 Jean is invited to a reunion for her study abroad program in France. David Harwell, a professor and scholar, is retiring. It's been over 20 years, but Jean is still affected by the inappropriate relationship that happened that summer between her and Harwell. After receiving the invitation, she has a small breakdown and seeks refuge in a church. There, Saint Monica (Lewinsky) appears to her and guides her back in time to remember the experience and gain new insight. Interspersed in the story are retellings from The Golden Legend of young female saints who were taken advantage of and killed by men (peep the book cover)
Beautiful prose (sumptuous, resplendent). Well-researched dive into medeival churches. Succulent decriptions of food and cooking. Devastating descriptions of Jean and David and that unique feeling of being a young woman in an ambivalent dalliance with a power imbalance. If books are a portable magic, I was teleported back to being a college student, alongside Jean and Saint Monica. I loved this so much, it hit so hard.
2019 Jean is invited to a reunion for her study abroad program in France. David Harwell, a professor and scholar, is retiring. It's been over 20 years, but Jean is still affected by the inappropriate relationship that happened that summer between her and Harwell. After receiving the invitation, she has a small breakdown and seeks refuge in a church. There, Saint Monica (Lewinsky) appears to her and guides her back in time to remember the experience and gain new insight. Interspersed in the story are retellings from The Golden Legend of young female saints who were taken advantage of and killed by men (peep the book cover)
Beautiful prose (sumptuous, resplendent). Well-researched dive into medeival churches. Succulent decriptions of food and cooking. Devastating descriptions of Jean and David and that unique feeling of being a young woman in an ambivalent dalliance with a power imbalance. If books are a portable magic, I was teleported back to being a college student, alongside Jean and Saint Monica. I loved this so much, it hit so hard.
November 6, 2025
Alright, this is really early, you all have to wait until April, but I couldn't wait. This is going to be one of those buzz books that's worth the hype. I loved it SO much. Thanks a million to Doubleday for the copy!
Dear Monica Lewinsky by Julia Langbein is a story about Jean, who gets an invitation to a retirement party from a college professor, whom she had a very inappropriate relationship with.
Sending Jean into a bit of a spiral, rereading diary entries, she realizes that this all happened to her at the same time as the Lewinsky scandal, which Jean was not kind about at the time. She finds herself praying to Monica for forgiveness, and, well..Saint Monica shows up, patron saint of persocuted women. In what is best described as a Ghost of Christmas Past type of tale, Monica and Jean revisit that fateful summer studying abroad in college to discover what really happened.
Told in a series of flashbacks, this novel tackles some heavy issues like misogyny, religion, power play in relationships, told with interjections from Saint Monica, I found that it was somehow making me laugh and smile while getting all of these points across. Also of note, the food writing! The 90s! The little sections between chapters about real martyrs! It is all spread out in one gratifying tale.
Langbein captures that period of youth so well, when you are still so young and able to be molded and shaped, but thought of as an adult on your own with a set of tools to handle yourself, that you really don't have yet. How we can let our desires shape us, how ick men can be, what forgiveness can look like. Did I mention how ick men can be? Best of all, a satisfying ending. So, you know, write this one down, we all need something to look forward to anyway, right?!
Dear Monica Lewinsky by Julia Langbein is a story about Jean, who gets an invitation to a retirement party from a college professor, whom she had a very inappropriate relationship with.
Sending Jean into a bit of a spiral, rereading diary entries, she realizes that this all happened to her at the same time as the Lewinsky scandal, which Jean was not kind about at the time. She finds herself praying to Monica for forgiveness, and, well..Saint Monica shows up, patron saint of persocuted women. In what is best described as a Ghost of Christmas Past type of tale, Monica and Jean revisit that fateful summer studying abroad in college to discover what really happened.
Told in a series of flashbacks, this novel tackles some heavy issues like misogyny, religion, power play in relationships, told with interjections from Saint Monica, I found that it was somehow making me laugh and smile while getting all of these points across. Also of note, the food writing! The 90s! The little sections between chapters about real martyrs! It is all spread out in one gratifying tale.
Langbein captures that period of youth so well, when you are still so young and able to be molded and shaped, but thought of as an adult on your own with a set of tools to handle yourself, that you really don't have yet. How we can let our desires shape us, how ick men can be, what forgiveness can look like. Did I mention how ick men can be? Best of all, a satisfying ending. So, you know, write this one down, we all need something to look forward to anyway, right?!
December 22, 2025
I was so into this book that when I suffered from insomnia and woke up deep in the night, I was actually happy that I'd be able to read it. It was propulsive and witty and lots of fun.
The novel begins with an invitation. Main character Jean has been invited to a retirement party in France, where she spent the summer when she was 19 as part of a special school program studying the architecture of old churches. The party is for David, the teacher she had a sexual relationship with that summer, and the events of that summer have cast a shadow over her entire life. She looks back over old journals and realizes that that all of this occurred in 1998, the same summer that the Clinton scandal was splashed all over the headlines, but somehow, she'd never considered the similarity between her situation and Lewinsky's. In a bad moment, she sends a prayer to Monica- and poof! Monica appears. Or a version of Monica, anyway, Saint Monica, who then travels with her (and the reader) through the events of that summer, trying to help her realize some things.
We go through what happened, and occasionally Jean and Monica have a little conversation (often a funny one) about it. I may have never read a book that describes so well how it feels to be deeply focused on one forbidden, unacknowledged person. How you can track where they are in the room without even looking. At one point, Jean observes that when she says something perceptive in one of the churches, she feels the heat lamp of David’s smile go from low to medium even as she can’t see his face. And she talks about how she’s doubled. One person inside her is living her life, and the other part of her is observing- even when he’s not there- how what she is doing would look to him.
Jean at 19 is a great character, sly and witty, even as she’s callow in the way 19-year-olds necessarily are. I loved the way she talked, especially with the other students participating in this program, and with Monica, in the little asides.
The writing is sharp and kept giving me little zings of pleasure. The prince who owns the castle where participants and teachers in this program are living is very focused on the Clinton scandal and is waiting for the cable installers to show up so he can follow it live. Jean says, "He wants CNN and Sky News the way his ancestors wanted Flanders and Alsace.”
I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a while!
The novel begins with an invitation. Main character Jean has been invited to a retirement party in France, where she spent the summer when she was 19 as part of a special school program studying the architecture of old churches. The party is for David, the teacher she had a sexual relationship with that summer, and the events of that summer have cast a shadow over her entire life. She looks back over old journals and realizes that that all of this occurred in 1998, the same summer that the Clinton scandal was splashed all over the headlines, but somehow, she'd never considered the similarity between her situation and Lewinsky's. In a bad moment, she sends a prayer to Monica- and poof! Monica appears. Or a version of Monica, anyway, Saint Monica, who then travels with her (and the reader) through the events of that summer, trying to help her realize some things.
We go through what happened, and occasionally Jean and Monica have a little conversation (often a funny one) about it. I may have never read a book that describes so well how it feels to be deeply focused on one forbidden, unacknowledged person. How you can track where they are in the room without even looking. At one point, Jean observes that when she says something perceptive in one of the churches, she feels the heat lamp of David’s smile go from low to medium even as she can’t see his face. And she talks about how she’s doubled. One person inside her is living her life, and the other part of her is observing- even when he’s not there- how what she is doing would look to him.
Jean at 19 is a great character, sly and witty, even as she’s callow in the way 19-year-olds necessarily are. I loved the way she talked, especially with the other students participating in this program, and with Monica, in the little asides.
The writing is sharp and kept giving me little zings of pleasure. The prince who owns the castle where participants and teachers in this program are living is very focused on the Clinton scandal and is waiting for the cable installers to show up so he can follow it live. Jean says, "He wants CNN and Sky News the way his ancestors wanted Flanders and Alsace.”
I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a while!
December 2, 2025
3.5 stars
Who can even resist this title let alone this concept? Iconic. What drew me in further? The protagonist and I are the same age and were in college at the same time. We also had creep professors though not in exactly the same forms, thankfully. In many ways, this book was made for me.
Like Jean, the protagonist, I have strange memories of what I was up to while the scandal featuring the titular individual was occurring. I also failed to see so many shades of that scenario that I am drawn to now. I think some of us have a weird added protectiveness around ML because of how we thought of her at the time, how that's changed, and how much we've grown since. I definitely came into this a little scared of how she was going to be treated, but that ended up being my favorite part of the book. Now if I hear one word about ML not loving it, I'll change my tune in a heartbeat, but I hope she will dig the portrayal.
The rest of the book? Well. I did find aspects of this humorous, and I liked the structural flow of flashbacks. I did struggle with the pacing and general malaise of the character in some ways. Many of us have realizations that are not the rosiest, especially when we're ambitious, working with a lot of folks in mentoring roles, and trying to stuff down weird memories and experiences. I enjoyed how Jean grappled with her grown person's perspective on her younger antics and interactions, but at times, I wondered how she didn't come to these queries a little sooner.
This is a fantastic concept that resulted in an enjoyable read. I'll check out more from this author and recommend this one particularly to folks around my age.
*Special thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Marketing for this widget, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Who can even resist this title let alone this concept? Iconic. What drew me in further? The protagonist and I are the same age and were in college at the same time. We also had creep professors though not in exactly the same forms, thankfully. In many ways, this book was made for me.
Like Jean, the protagonist, I have strange memories of what I was up to while the scandal featuring the titular individual was occurring. I also failed to see so many shades of that scenario that I am drawn to now. I think some of us have a weird added protectiveness around ML because of how we thought of her at the time, how that's changed, and how much we've grown since. I definitely came into this a little scared of how she was going to be treated, but that ended up being my favorite part of the book. Now if I hear one word about ML not loving it, I'll change my tune in a heartbeat, but I hope she will dig the portrayal.
The rest of the book? Well. I did find aspects of this humorous, and I liked the structural flow of flashbacks. I did struggle with the pacing and general malaise of the character in some ways. Many of us have realizations that are not the rosiest, especially when we're ambitious, working with a lot of folks in mentoring roles, and trying to stuff down weird memories and experiences. I enjoyed how Jean grappled with her grown person's perspective on her younger antics and interactions, but at times, I wondered how she didn't come to these queries a little sooner.
This is a fantastic concept that resulted in an enjoyable read. I'll check out more from this author and recommend this one particularly to folks around my age.
*Special thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Marketing for this widget, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
September 15, 2025
(4.5 stars) Rejoice and praise before Dear Monica Lewinsky, a trenchant, incisive, emotionally resonant and so very funny novel that far surpassed my preconceptions — and reservations — about another novel concerning a young woman seduced by her university professor. Author Julia Langbein brings to life our fully dimensional protagonist, Jean Dorman, a 45-year-old woman dealing with an existential crisis brought on by an invitation she receives, as she’s visited by Saint Monica Lewinsky to help her unpack a traumatic event from her past. Starting from a hooky, irresistible premise, Langbein delivers a near-flawlessly crafted novel that find new ways to explore and expand the boundaries of our cultural discourse around power and consent with depth, humor and well-earned emotional payoff. Bless Julia Langbein! Bless Jean Dorman! And Bless Dear Monica Lewinsky!
October 9, 2025
Was not expecting this to be one of the best books I’ve ever read, but here we are. Dear Monica Lewinsky was massively, intelligent feminist, and funny. I read this entire book like I was taking small bites of the best meal I’ve ever had, savoring every moment on my palate and wishing it would never end.
I won’t give a synopsis, the title gives you enough to know what Dear Monica Lewinsky is about. Some might find it has a slightly condescending take on religion however, I found it necessary in highlighting the hypocrisy of society’s demand for women to be beautiful while also blaming that beauty when men can’t control themselves. Women painted as temptresses, shamed into denouncing their sexuality just to find the good graces of god. Men riding high on forgiveness since the beginning of time every time they trip and fall between the legs of some wicked virgin, and yet, these poor weak men are the ones with all the power and always have been.
Brilliant. Relevant. Witty. Perfect.
Thank you, thank you thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reading copy of this title and exchange for my honest review.
I won’t give a synopsis, the title gives you enough to know what Dear Monica Lewinsky is about. Some might find it has a slightly condescending take on religion however, I found it necessary in highlighting the hypocrisy of society’s demand for women to be beautiful while also blaming that beauty when men can’t control themselves. Women painted as temptresses, shamed into denouncing their sexuality just to find the good graces of god. Men riding high on forgiveness since the beginning of time every time they trip and fall between the legs of some wicked virgin, and yet, these poor weak men are the ones with all the power and always have been.
Brilliant. Relevant. Witty. Perfect.
Thank you, thank you thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reading copy of this title and exchange for my honest review.
Read
December 10, 2025In this wickedly funny and quietly touching novel, the reader follows Jean as she recalls a turbulent summer spent studying French churches and persecuted saints, watching the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal unfold on television, and sparking an unseemly relationship with her much older teacher. Featuring an all-knowing heavenly Monica Lewinsky, breathtaking moments of irony and beauty, and an array of saintly women, this novel—evocative and timely—enchanted me beyond words. Praise Saint Monica—tortured unjustly not for her actions, but for his.
September 14, 2025
All hail Saint Monica! I wholeheartedly agree that, similar to the woman portrayed in the snippets we get throughout the book who were persecuted for refuting the advances of men throughout history, Monica was another woman in a long line of women that deserved better. I had hoped this story to be more of a love letter to young Monica. But other than a few bits of news coverage from 1998, the scandal felt more like an afterthought. I found the story to move quite slow with an unfulfilled ending. The best parts were the interactions between Jean and Saint Monica. I appreciate the portrayal of Monica as an omniscient God, and if this book helps more people see her that way, than by all means, read away!
September 17, 2025
The title & the cover is an attention grabber in my opinion so well done there!
Imagine a time when a US President could be impeached for oral sex & then fast forward to 2025 w/the Clown (w/countless sexual misconduct charges) that inhabits The White House today. And then add that you will threaten the victims w/death & jail time & you have the late 1990s w/the trauma that Monica Lewinsky suffered in her early 20s while Clinton was in his late 40s as US President. Political opinions here are my own interpretation btw.
This author is a loud & proud voice for the ostracism that women endured through the ages (often celebrated with art or through faith even in medieval times). The author's previous 2023 book, American Mermaid, should be enjoyed after this one.
My favorite parts were between the main voice, Jean, & Monica Lewinsky (elevated to an imaginary patron saint bec' of the protagonist's similar life experiences). Ms. Langbein writes w/authority about the history of women tortured from the beginning of time. These sexual relationships were usually far from consensual or someone was in an authoritative position over an underling.
If you appreciate European art history or architecture, this book will appeal because the author is a master voice. I did not connect with Jean, David & the other characters as much as I did with the one-on-ones with Monica and Jean.
In real time, Monica was one of the very first public online victims of shaming women for being taken advantage of. Jean felt a connection to the point that she could speak to Monica even if through a journal or self-reflection..
As a practicing Pro-Choice Catholic & Liberal (the Church still takes my money Hehe), every few chapters you will have a patron saint's story that connects how we have been persecuting women for the sexual desires of lecherous aggressors from the beginning of time. If you were ever young & there is that one person that took advantage of your position & cast you away - start reading this book.
I thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Imagine a time when a US President could be impeached for oral sex & then fast forward to 2025 w/the Clown (w/countless sexual misconduct charges) that inhabits The White House today. And then add that you will threaten the victims w/death & jail time & you have the late 1990s w/the trauma that Monica Lewinsky suffered in her early 20s while Clinton was in his late 40s as US President. Political opinions here are my own interpretation btw.
This author is a loud & proud voice for the ostracism that women endured through the ages (often celebrated with art or through faith even in medieval times). The author's previous 2023 book, American Mermaid, should be enjoyed after this one.
My favorite parts were between the main voice, Jean, & Monica Lewinsky (elevated to an imaginary patron saint bec' of the protagonist's similar life experiences). Ms. Langbein writes w/authority about the history of women tortured from the beginning of time. These sexual relationships were usually far from consensual or someone was in an authoritative position over an underling.
If you appreciate European art history or architecture, this book will appeal because the author is a master voice. I did not connect with Jean, David & the other characters as much as I did with the one-on-ones with Monica and Jean.
In real time, Monica was one of the very first public online victims of shaming women for being taken advantage of. Jean felt a connection to the point that she could speak to Monica even if through a journal or self-reflection..
As a practicing Pro-Choice Catholic & Liberal (the Church still takes my money Hehe), every few chapters you will have a patron saint's story that connects how we have been persecuting women for the sexual desires of lecherous aggressors from the beginning of time. If you were ever young & there is that one person that took advantage of your position & cast you away - start reading this book.
I thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Do y’all remember Monica Lewinsky? How could we forget is more like it. She and I are roughly the same age, and I was working in TV news during the whole Clinton Affair, so I could not escape the onslaught of public humiliation she went through. The 1990s were a wild time, and I’ll never forgive the people who slut-shamed Lewinsky, when the cheating older man in the Oval Office still kept his job after lying UNDER OATH.
But I digress. Dear Monica Lewinsky is a novel that is kind of unique. It’s part historical fiction, bringing readers back to 1998, when the whole world was talking about the President and his former intern. Jean is a young woman, much like Monica, who is searching for happiness in work and in life. She’s got this flirtation with a professor that could be bad news.
Then, there’s modern day Jean, who is looking back at her young life and sees the parallels of her life with Lewinsky’s, and she sort of prays at the altar of St. Monica, “the patron saint of those who suffer venal public shaming and patriarchal cruelty.” Also included in the novel are some stories about female martyrs, and there’s also a concentration on the common thread of women who are there to make men happy, at the threat of unhappiness for one’s self.
Now, if that seems like sort of a downer for a book, it really isn’t, because author Julia Langbein injects humor throughout the whole book, to the point of hilarity in some part. She’s really a great writer who pulled off all the different threads of the stories brilliantly. Part quirkiness, part feminist manifesto, part forbidden romance, and part art history, this book has a lot to offer. I will definitely be following this author from now on. Raising the consciousness of how society as a whole failed Monica Lewinsky in a time of great struggle, I can only speak for myself when I say Monica, I’m sorry for falling for the false narrative the media gave us almost 30 years ago.
Do y’all remember Monica Lewinsky? How could we forget is more like it. She and I are roughly the same age, and I was working in TV news during the whole Clinton Affair, so I could not escape the onslaught of public humiliation she went through. The 1990s were a wild time, and I’ll never forgive the people who slut-shamed Lewinsky, when the cheating older man in the Oval Office still kept his job after lying UNDER OATH.
But I digress. Dear Monica Lewinsky is a novel that is kind of unique. It’s part historical fiction, bringing readers back to 1998, when the whole world was talking about the President and his former intern. Jean is a young woman, much like Monica, who is searching for happiness in work and in life. She’s got this flirtation with a professor that could be bad news.
Then, there’s modern day Jean, who is looking back at her young life and sees the parallels of her life with Lewinsky’s, and she sort of prays at the altar of St. Monica, “the patron saint of those who suffer venal public shaming and patriarchal cruelty.” Also included in the novel are some stories about female martyrs, and there’s also a concentration on the common thread of women who are there to make men happy, at the threat of unhappiness for one’s self.
Now, if that seems like sort of a downer for a book, it really isn’t, because author Julia Langbein injects humor throughout the whole book, to the point of hilarity in some part. She’s really a great writer who pulled off all the different threads of the stories brilliantly. Part quirkiness, part feminist manifesto, part forbidden romance, and part art history, this book has a lot to offer. I will definitely be following this author from now on. Raising the consciousness of how society as a whole failed Monica Lewinsky in a time of great struggle, I can only speak for myself when I say Monica, I’m sorry for falling for the false narrative the media gave us almost 30 years ago.
October 12, 2025
This book had a dynamite start with some amazing writing. (Basically there are knockout quotes throughout this book, like, "Her heart had been and still was a miraculous organ, a restaurant of many open chambers where anyone might dine, noisy and restorative, coursing with wine." DAMN, THAT'S GOOD WRITING.)
I loved the idea of Monica Lewinsky as a patron saint of young women who've been preyed upon and her narration of the story at the beginning. But this unique setup quickly gets thrown to the wayside in favor of a pretty straight forward recounting a tale of the summer Jean studied abroad and developed an obsession and relationship with her professor. (Monica comments now and then, but basically she has little to do with the story)
So why even do the Saint Monica bit? Why add in the short sections about young women who were used and discarded and ultimately made saints? These parts (which felt to me to have such promise) don't end up matching the main meat of the story about the summer.
I think the disconnect for me maybe was because, while adult Jean has her moment in the end of the book, she's not a central character here. Young Jean is the one whom we follow. And though young Jean is manipulated and wronged by a person in power, she is also hungry for his attention and gives herself to him freely. She is a stand-in for all women, but we're led to compare her to (in)famous ones.
I will say though that the hunger bits were also some damn good writing and really capture what that feels like when you're young and obsessed with every look, every interaction with the person to which you're attracted. Like this bit: "He was, to her, a muddy river of nourishment and danger that oozed down the full Amazonian course of her spine and all her limbs, bringing civilization and disease..." Again DAMN.
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.
I loved the idea of Monica Lewinsky as a patron saint of young women who've been preyed upon and her narration of the story at the beginning. But this unique setup quickly gets thrown to the wayside in favor of a pretty straight forward recounting a tale of the summer Jean studied abroad and developed an obsession and relationship with her professor. (Monica comments now and then, but basically she has little to do with the story)
So why even do the Saint Monica bit? Why add in the short sections about young women who were used and discarded and ultimately made saints? These parts (which felt to me to have such promise) don't end up matching the main meat of the story about the summer.
I think the disconnect for me maybe was because, while adult Jean has her moment in the end of the book, she's not a central character here. Young Jean is the one whom we follow. And though young Jean is manipulated and wronged by a person in power, she is also hungry for his attention and gives herself to him freely. She is a stand-in for all women, but we're led to compare her to (in)famous ones.
I will say though that the hunger bits were also some damn good writing and really capture what that feels like when you're young and obsessed with every look, every interaction with the person to which you're attracted. Like this bit: "He was, to her, a muddy river of nourishment and danger that oozed down the full Amazonian course of her spine and all her limbs, bringing civilization and disease..." Again DAMN.
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Dear Monica Lewinsky is a coming of age story about Jean, a college student, set in 1998. The story follows Jean on her 6 week study abroad course in France as she studies medieval churches. We get brief anecdotes about saints, the medieval churches, architectural terms, art, and nuns but actually very little about the parallels between Jean and Monica Lewinsky in the summer of 1998.
The book takes place primarily over the 6 week study abroad program. It truly reads like a memoir and I had to keep double checking that I was in fact reading fiction. I would pick this up if you enjoy character studies, are interested in historical art and architecture (especially medieval), and cooking. You do get the slow burn build of Jean's relationship with her professor, but that relationship and its relationship to what was happening in the White House was a small percentage of the plot, so I wouldn't pick this up if that's your primary interest.
If eating disorders are a trigger for you, I would avoid this as one of Jean's classmates struggles with that throughout the book.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read. I thought it was well written. I enjoyed the comedic elements of the story telling. I enjoyed Jean as a character study and found her very believable as a flawed, real life person that could have been affected in this way from that summer. I also found the ending of this book to be extremely satisfying.
The reason I did not enjoy this book more, is that I feel it dragged quite a bit in the middle- it took a long time to get to where I thought we were going. Additionally, I feel that the title and blurb were quite misleading for what I was actually served. The affair and Monica Lewinsky seemed to play less of a role in the story than I felt it implied they would.
Thank you to NetGalley and DoubleDay Books Publishing for an early copy of Dear Monica Lewinsky.
The book takes place primarily over the 6 week study abroad program. It truly reads like a memoir and I had to keep double checking that I was in fact reading fiction. I would pick this up if you enjoy character studies, are interested in historical art and architecture (especially medieval), and cooking. You do get the slow burn build of Jean's relationship with her professor, but that relationship and its relationship to what was happening in the White House was a small percentage of the plot, so I wouldn't pick this up if that's your primary interest.
If eating disorders are a trigger for you, I would avoid this as one of Jean's classmates struggles with that throughout the book.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read. I thought it was well written. I enjoyed the comedic elements of the story telling. I enjoyed Jean as a character study and found her very believable as a flawed, real life person that could have been affected in this way from that summer. I also found the ending of this book to be extremely satisfying.
The reason I did not enjoy this book more, is that I feel it dragged quite a bit in the middle- it took a long time to get to where I thought we were going. Additionally, I feel that the title and blurb were quite misleading for what I was actually served. The affair and Monica Lewinsky seemed to play less of a role in the story than I felt it implied they would.
Thank you to NetGalley and DoubleDay Books Publishing for an early copy of Dear Monica Lewinsky.
September 19, 2025
(ARC - out 04/14/26 via Doubleday) The premise to this one drew me in immediately - Jean Dornan, our narrator, is forty-five and going through an existential crisis. She has been invited to the retirement party of a former professor of hers. She and this professor engaged in a sexual relationship when she was a young student, studying abroad. This invitation is the cause of Jean’s existential crisis, as she can’t stop feeling guilt and shame and anger about this relationship from her younger years, and when she realizes that she studied abroad the same year as the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, she becomes obsessed with Monica Lewinsky. She shoots a prayer to Monica who, shockingly, appears to Jean and begins to help her work through her feelings about that summer. The novel splits time between the present and the past, when Jean was a nineteen year old student, and then Monica is given her own little interstitial bits as well. Julia Langbein doesn’t make any easy narrative choices here; Jean is an extremely well-rounded character, imperfect as all people are. Langbein has so much sympathy for Jean and makes her feel like an actual human, making human choices out of youthful tendencies and obsessions. She writes so well of imbalanced power dynamics, of an older man taking advantage of a younger woman without removing the woman’s agency, but rather examining the societal conditioning that has led to the fostering of these sorts of sexual relationships. Langbein’s writing is also just fun and snappy. This isn’t a light topic, but the book was the opposite of a chore. It had a lot to say without feeling at all like a screed. Hats off to the author, I am so glad I got to read this.
September 3, 2025
Out April 14th, 2026
Whew. this book is a sharp, emotionally resonant novel that follows Jean Dornan, a 45-year-old woman haunted by a long-buried chapter of her past. During a study abroad program in France in the summer of 1998, Jean entered into a deeply inappropriate relationship with her professor—an affair that quietly unraveled her life. Years later, when the professor unexpectedly invites her to his retirement ceremony, Jean is forced to confront the emotional wreckage left behind and the choices she made as a young woman.
As Jean rereads her old diaries, she’s stunned to realize that her affair coincided with the infamous Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, yet she never saw the parallels. Overcome with guilt and a strange sense of kinship, she begins to pray to Monica Lewinsky—not as a celebrity, but as a kind of secular saint, a symbol of misunderstood and vilified women. In a surreal twist, Monica appears to Jean as a ghostly guide, leading her on a journey through memory and self-reckoning. Their encounters are laced with humor, irreverence, and unexpected tenderness, as Jean begins to unravel the deeper truths of her past.
The novel unfolds through flashbacks of those six pivotal weeks in France, interspersed with cheeky retellings of female martyrdom and Monica’s otherworldly visitations. Langbein uses these layers to explore the messy terrain of desire, shame, and the stories women tell themselves to survive. Jean’s internal monologue is both biting and vulnerable, capturing the contradictions of a woman who’s spent decades trying to make sense of a moment that defined her.
Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for this ARC!
Whew. this book is a sharp, emotionally resonant novel that follows Jean Dornan, a 45-year-old woman haunted by a long-buried chapter of her past. During a study abroad program in France in the summer of 1998, Jean entered into a deeply inappropriate relationship with her professor—an affair that quietly unraveled her life. Years later, when the professor unexpectedly invites her to his retirement ceremony, Jean is forced to confront the emotional wreckage left behind and the choices she made as a young woman.
As Jean rereads her old diaries, she’s stunned to realize that her affair coincided with the infamous Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, yet she never saw the parallels. Overcome with guilt and a strange sense of kinship, she begins to pray to Monica Lewinsky—not as a celebrity, but as a kind of secular saint, a symbol of misunderstood and vilified women. In a surreal twist, Monica appears to Jean as a ghostly guide, leading her on a journey through memory and self-reckoning. Their encounters are laced with humor, irreverence, and unexpected tenderness, as Jean begins to unravel the deeper truths of her past.
The novel unfolds through flashbacks of those six pivotal weeks in France, interspersed with cheeky retellings of female martyrdom and Monica’s otherworldly visitations. Langbein uses these layers to explore the messy terrain of desire, shame, and the stories women tell themselves to survive. Jean’s internal monologue is both biting and vulnerable, capturing the contradictions of a woman who’s spent decades trying to make sense of a moment that defined her.
Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for this ARC!
November 29, 2025
I loved this book. The format of the story telling is unique. Certain sections added layers to what was happening to the character Jean. I haven’t read a book written like this book. After finishing this book I couldn’t imagine it written any other way.
This is was funny. There were few moments where I chuckled out loud. Along side the humor, important observations about women can’t just exist and be comfortable in their sexuality and power that they find in. That their sexuality can’t be their own but is used against them by men and women. I liked that Jean’s story was a parallel to Monica Lewinsky. Also topics of religion were interesting.
Jean felt like a real person. That she existed. She wasn’t perfect and could swing between being unlikable and likable. She was messy and relatable. Jean felt she could be character that outside of the book.
As someone close to her age, I could related to thinking did one decision or moment derailed my path. That somehow I closed myself off to path that could have changed my life.
I enjoyed the reading experience so much and found myself reading for hours at a time. I was getting sad that I was getting to the end.
Thanks to Doubleday for an advance copy of the book. It comes out April 14, 2026. I plan on getting a finished copy because it is that good.
This is was funny. There were few moments where I chuckled out loud. Along side the humor, important observations about women can’t just exist and be comfortable in their sexuality and power that they find in. That their sexuality can’t be their own but is used against them by men and women. I liked that Jean’s story was a parallel to Monica Lewinsky. Also topics of religion were interesting.
Jean felt like a real person. That she existed. She wasn’t perfect and could swing between being unlikable and likable. She was messy and relatable. Jean felt she could be character that outside of the book.
As someone close to her age, I could related to thinking did one decision or moment derailed my path. That somehow I closed myself off to path that could have changed my life.
I enjoyed the reading experience so much and found myself reading for hours at a time. I was getting sad that I was getting to the end.
Thanks to Doubleday for an advance copy of the book. It comes out April 14, 2026. I plan on getting a finished copy because it is that good.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
If I ever meet Monica Lewinsky in person, I can see one of two possibilities unfolding: One, I’ll hold myself together and calmly tell her how much I admire her anti-bullying work and how she’s reclaimed her story. Two, I’ll prostrate myself at her feet and apologize for not shouting from the rooftops in her defense when I was younger and I heard others malign her. I stayed silent when I should have spoken up and I’ll feel bad about this to my dying day. Forgive me, Monica, for I have sinned.
If you feel similarly, I think you’ll very much enjoy and appreciate Julia Langbein’s Dear Monica Lewinsky, a coming of age story about a woman named Jean from New Jersey, who’s “visited” by Saint Monica. Like Margery Kempe or Julien of Norwich, Jean has visions. In these visions, Saint Monica appears to her, illuminates her, and helps her understand and work through an event from her past. Julia is a wonderful writer and the book is filled with art, architecture, food, the French countryside and clever vignettes of women saints who were venerated for sacrificing some part of themselves (their body, their beauty, their virginity, etc) to (long story short) placate the patriarchy.
This book is weird and delightful and I adored it. Thanks so much to Doubleday and NetGalley for my advance copy.
If you feel similarly, I think you’ll very much enjoy and appreciate Julia Langbein’s Dear Monica Lewinsky, a coming of age story about a woman named Jean from New Jersey, who’s “visited” by Saint Monica. Like Margery Kempe or Julien of Norwich, Jean has visions. In these visions, Saint Monica appears to her, illuminates her, and helps her understand and work through an event from her past. Julia is a wonderful writer and the book is filled with art, architecture, food, the French countryside and clever vignettes of women saints who were venerated for sacrificing some part of themselves (their body, their beauty, their virginity, etc) to (long story short) placate the patriarchy.
This book is weird and delightful and I adored it. Thanks so much to Doubleday and NetGalley for my advance copy.
August 10, 2025
I recieved this as an ARC through Netgalley!
I finished Dear Monica Lewinsky last night and decided to let it sit with me, let myself marinade in it a little before working on this review. I have so many thoughts and even more feelings about this book, which was an experience from beginning to end.
First of all let me just saw how wonderfully unique this read was, I honestly never knew what was going to happen next and it really keeps you in the moment with Jean even as she’s remembering, recontextualizing this formative moment in her life twenty years out. Every page reminded me of My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Odessa Moshgegh, and I’m so here for the more messy gritty inner lives of women, that specific examination of women’s experience which dares you to look it straight in the snarling eye. I just— I have been reading a very different kind of fiction lately and this was a cold ice bath to my system and I needed it, even if it was hard to see my own reflection at times.
I have no clue- no idea at all what I thought I was in for when I started this book but what I got was so much more than I could have hoped for.
I finished Dear Monica Lewinsky last night and decided to let it sit with me, let myself marinade in it a little before working on this review. I have so many thoughts and even more feelings about this book, which was an experience from beginning to end.
First of all let me just saw how wonderfully unique this read was, I honestly never knew what was going to happen next and it really keeps you in the moment with Jean even as she’s remembering, recontextualizing this formative moment in her life twenty years out. Every page reminded me of My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Odessa Moshgegh, and I’m so here for the more messy gritty inner lives of women, that specific examination of women’s experience which dares you to look it straight in the snarling eye. I just— I have been reading a very different kind of fiction lately and this was a cold ice bath to my system and I needed it, even if it was hard to see my own reflection at times.
I have no clue- no idea at all what I thought I was in for when I started this book but what I got was so much more than I could have hoped for.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is the story of Jean from New Jersey, who relives her 6 week college abroad study experience in France. The events that occur in that time period have some parallels to the Monica Lewinsky/Clinton events, which happen to be being reported in the media at that same time.
It's a fascinating story, extremely well written, that really evokes the time period as well as Jean's inner experience. I really enjoyed her character. She was painted as a strong, beautiful, intelligent young woman, with the ineptitudes, lack of confidence and struggles that come with being a young adult. Her dalliance with her instructor was depicted with a fabulous realism, and the parallels and statement about society using the Lewinsky scandal are fabulously done.
Along this journey, in the present day, Jean prays to "Saint Monica" and there is a comedic bent to their dialogue.
It's an incredibly interesting, unique story, and I was engaged from beginning to end. I think possibly the author may have condensed this a little further and it'd have been a little punchier, but overall it was a great and unique read!
Thank you to NetGalley and DoubleDay Books for the advanced reader copy of this book.
It's a fascinating story, extremely well written, that really evokes the time period as well as Jean's inner experience. I really enjoyed her character. She was painted as a strong, beautiful, intelligent young woman, with the ineptitudes, lack of confidence and struggles that come with being a young adult. Her dalliance with her instructor was depicted with a fabulous realism, and the parallels and statement about society using the Lewinsky scandal are fabulously done.
Along this journey, in the present day, Jean prays to "Saint Monica" and there is a comedic bent to their dialogue.
It's an incredibly interesting, unique story, and I was engaged from beginning to end. I think possibly the author may have condensed this a little further and it'd have been a little punchier, but overall it was a great and unique read!
Thank you to NetGalley and DoubleDay Books for the advanced reader copy of this book.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
3.5, rounded up.
I love the cultural shift happening around Monica Lewinsky — the long-overdue re-examination of how a young woman was misconstrued, vilified, and narrated by everyone but her. Dear Monica Lewinsky taps into that moment with a thoughtful blend of history, memory, and storytelling.
Langbein pairs a contemporary narrative with medieval legends of the saints, exploring how stories evolve over time and how the meaning we assign to events shifts as culture changes. It’s a clever device, and philosophically, the book asks compelling questions about mythmaking, reputation, and cultural judgment.
Where the book shines is in those broader reflections — it makes you think about the stories we inherit, the stories we tell ourselves, and the ones we rewrite. But at the page level, I found the pacing of Jean’s personal story a bit uneven, and it didn’t always keep me fully engaged. The philosophical thrust often feels stronger than the intimacy of the protagonist’s arc.
Overall: A worthwhile read for anyone interested in narrative, reputation, and the way we re-tell women’s stories — even if the execution didn’t quite land for me in every chapter.
I love the cultural shift happening around Monica Lewinsky — the long-overdue re-examination of how a young woman was misconstrued, vilified, and narrated by everyone but her. Dear Monica Lewinsky taps into that moment with a thoughtful blend of history, memory, and storytelling.
Langbein pairs a contemporary narrative with medieval legends of the saints, exploring how stories evolve over time and how the meaning we assign to events shifts as culture changes. It’s a clever device, and philosophically, the book asks compelling questions about mythmaking, reputation, and cultural judgment.
Where the book shines is in those broader reflections — it makes you think about the stories we inherit, the stories we tell ourselves, and the ones we rewrite. But at the page level, I found the pacing of Jean’s personal story a bit uneven, and it didn’t always keep me fully engaged. The philosophical thrust often feels stronger than the intimacy of the protagonist’s arc.
Overall: A worthwhile read for anyone interested in narrative, reputation, and the way we re-tell women’s stories — even if the execution didn’t quite land for me in every chapter.
January 1, 2026
Dear Monica Lewinsky is a smart, darkly funny, and very well-written novel about power, desire, and the long-lasting impact of an inappropriate relationship. Jean, now forty, looks back on a brief affair she had at nineteen with her much older professor while studying in France—an experience that deeply shaped her life, largely because of the imbalance of power he held over her.
The premise is creative and surprisingly effective: Jean prays to “Saint Monica” as her own story overlaps with the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, and Monica appears as a sharp, witty guide through Jean’s memories. The writing shines here—sarcastic, insightful, and emotionally honest without losing its sense of humor.
I also loved how the book weaves in short stories of women throughout history, nuns, medieval women, to highlight how often women have been taken advantage of by men. While this wasn’t a personal favorite, I really admired the ambition, humor, and thoughtful examination of blame, agency, and forgiveness. A strong and original read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! I would read more by this author.
The premise is creative and surprisingly effective: Jean prays to “Saint Monica” as her own story overlaps with the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, and Monica appears as a sharp, witty guide through Jean’s memories. The writing shines here—sarcastic, insightful, and emotionally honest without losing its sense of humor.
I also loved how the book weaves in short stories of women throughout history, nuns, medieval women, to highlight how often women have been taken advantage of by men. While this wasn’t a personal favorite, I really admired the ambition, humor, and thoughtful examination of blame, agency, and forgiveness. A strong and original read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! I would read more by this author.
January 4, 2026
Thanks to NetGalley for the loan of this book. There are many reasons this book deserves 5 stars. To start is the unique way the author combines words, a few examples at the end of my review. The book is divided in to 2 time periods, current and the period Lewinsky had her life altering event and so did our narrator, which occurred on an architectural examination by a college group of a number of churches located in France. I felt the anger of the author at the life changing injustices that both women endured and I'm very grateful that they've finally found an outlet. Sprinkled through out the book are stories of saints from The Golden Legend and Butler's Lives of the Saints. A couple examples of the authors use of words. Her description of a nun, "She's in a black habit with a close fitting white collar that descends to her shoulders and makes me think of a tube of toothpaste squeezing out her fleshy face." "Lettuce, each leaf a complete waterfall in a kerchief of green cellulose". I think I'll have to reread this book because I
believe there was a religious message that I missed.
believe there was a religious message that I missed.
November 19, 2025
2.5 stars! Julia Langbein's writing in Dear Monica Lewinsky was absolutely divine. I truly enjoyed her style the entirety of the reading experience. She was humorous, witty, and polished. No doubt that she has incredible talent. For that reason, I would love to try out her other novels, even though this one was not a favorite.
The plot made me feel the urge to read this one! I have never come across a book with a plot like this one. The main character praying to Monica Lewinsky?? Saint Monica coming to show her the events like it's A Christmas Carol?? It sounds amazing on the surface. Props to the author for creating a story of this sort. However, I did not connect with the execution. It felt too slow-moving and unengaging.
This novel does give you new perspectives. It's thought-provoking when thinking about forgiveness, womanhood, and desire.
Thank you Doubleday & Monica Lewinsky for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The plot made me feel the urge to read this one! I have never come across a book with a plot like this one. The main character praying to Monica Lewinsky?? Saint Monica coming to show her the events like it's A Christmas Carol?? It sounds amazing on the surface. Props to the author for creating a story of this sort. However, I did not connect with the execution. It felt too slow-moving and unengaging.
This novel does give you new perspectives. It's thought-provoking when thinking about forgiveness, womanhood, and desire.
Thank you Doubleday & Monica Lewinsky for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
November 28, 2025
Jean has a relationship with a professor the same summer that we learn of Monica Lewinsky. Now, 20 years later, she is contacted to attend a party in honor of him, but has massively conflicted feelings as this relationship has basically screwed up her head for all these years. She sends out her emotions to St Monica Lewinsky who grants this request and walks her through that summer Jean was with the professor.
Weird? Yes, and really was a long book to say so little. Were they both young, attracted to a man who was older and had some power over her? Yes, and both were consenting adults. That's about where the similarities end. Monica's story was front page news whereas no one knew of Jean's story.
Worth reading? It's not really the kind of book that makes you want to hurry home to read.
Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy. Honest opinions expressed here are my own and are freely given.
Weird? Yes, and really was a long book to say so little. Were they both young, attracted to a man who was older and had some power over her? Yes, and both were consenting adults. That's about where the similarities end. Monica's story was front page news whereas no one knew of Jean's story.
Worth reading? It's not really the kind of book that makes you want to hurry home to read.
Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy. Honest opinions expressed here are my own and are freely given.
December 29, 2025
When it comes to literature, Dear Monica Lewinsky proves it will stand on its own entirely, on shelves and in readers' hearts. We follow our main character Joan, a bit of a bumbling romantic at heart and observer of things and shenanigans. When she is reminded of professor David, a presence in her college life at the time of the Bill Clinton affair scandal, she is approached by Monica Lewinsky in saint form. We also learn of other martyrs to sainthood in the form of general women treatment bullshit, and it is yet another book that points out the flaws of a patriarchal ran society. This book is bold and brash in its subtlety, encroaching without totally pummeling the senses. Jean was a hilarious romp, so clever with her words and excelling in history AND language (ha, take that, David). It's about time we gave Monica some credit for being dragged through the goals, and maybe consider two sides of a story- how fun and engaging to do it in this plot style. Thanks so much to the publisher for the free copy! All opinions are entirely my own.
#aaknopf
#aaknopf
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.
Review: I really, really enjoyed the start of this book. The satire and humor was on point and evenly mixed with important commentary about sex, power, and societies judgement. I was flying through this at the start. However, at about 40 percent in the story really slows down, we don't get as much of the humor and likewise the hard hitting elements seem to be less. The middle gets stuck in this rut that feels like not a lot is happening except a lot of religious information that almost feels historical at times. That part is fine, however, it felt like such a shark difference it made it difficult for me to feel motivated to continue reading. I think fans of historical fiction who want more of a darker satirical experience would enjoy this. A very important novel with good social commentary.
Review: I really, really enjoyed the start of this book. The satire and humor was on point and evenly mixed with important commentary about sex, power, and societies judgement. I was flying through this at the start. However, at about 40 percent in the story really slows down, we don't get as much of the humor and likewise the hard hitting elements seem to be less. The middle gets stuck in this rut that feels like not a lot is happening except a lot of religious information that almost feels historical at times. That part is fine, however, it felt like such a shark difference it made it difficult for me to feel motivated to continue reading. I think fans of historical fiction who want more of a darker satirical experience would enjoy this. A very important novel with good social commentary.
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