It has taken me so long to write this review because I honestly don't have the right words for how much I loved this book.
The story concerns Jean who is having a crisis in her home and work life that seems to be related to an affair she had with a professor in the summer of 1998, the same summer the Lewinsky/Clinton scandal was dominating the news. Jean prays to Saint Monica who transports her to a replica of the hotel room in which Ken Starr trapped her and the two women review Jean's story.
First off, the book is hilarious. Langbein swings hard and connects beautifully in her depiction of Monica as an icon, human and goddess. I hope the real Monica reads this book because it is a love letter to her.
The beginning is a little confusing. Jean is not particularly likable. Frankly, I never warmed to her, but I loved her story. At the start she is a court translator, formerly a chef. But once she aspired to be a historian. In the flashbacks we learn she is in way over her head with a bunch of graduate students studying medieval architecture in Europe as an undergraduate. As the story progresses we see her near-obsession with one of the professors running the program. She attempts to seduce him. Even in her flashbacks, she is clear that everything that happens is consensual, and yet there are ripples that come to her in midlife with tremendous repercussions. And this is what Langbein does so brilliantly. She shows this dynamic that used to be commonplace and is now taboo and clearly shows why without preaching. And while showing this, she also builds believable, fascinating characters, a bit of suspense and so, so many laughs.
I can't wait for this book to be published so that I can buy a copy and just hold it in my hands. It was splendid.
