In 'Dear Monica Lewinsky,' a woman turns to an unusual saint for support

Summary

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NPR's Book of the Day (May 6, 2026)

"In 'Dear Monica Lewinsky,' a woman turns to an unusual saint for support"

Host: Alyssa Nadworny
Guest: Julia Langbein, author of Dear Monica Lewinsky

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Episode Overview

This episode features Julia Langbein and her new comic novel, Dear Monica Lewinsky. The main theme revolves around a woman in her 40s, Jean, who revisits a pivotal romance from her college years and reevaluates it through the lens of compassion, regret, and collective cultural change. The narrative is guided by a surprising spiritual figure: Monica Lewinsky, reimagined as a secular saint who survived public humiliation and embodies a model of forgiveness and resilience. The conversation explores themes of female agency, historical and modern perspectives on scandal, and the redemptive power of re-examining the past.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Stories of Female Saints and Public Humiliation

• [02:17 – 02:36] Langbein describes the inspiration drawn from female saints historically:
  • Presented with temptation, face suffering for their resistance, and are later venerated.
  • Quote:

    "They are often presented with a temptation. So a man, a randy pagan, comes along and wants a piece of them. They resist. They are tortured or killed for this, usually in quite gory ways, like knifed in the throat, burned at the stake, stretched on a rack, starved, then venerated for their steadfast faith." — Julia Langbein [02:22]

• [02:36 – 02:57]
  • Monica Lewinsky’s real-life public shaming is paralleled with these saints, but with survival (not martyrdom) as the moral crux.
  • Quote:

    "The Saint guiding the action has not been wronged to death. Instead, she's survived public humiliation without thinking about it." — Alyssa Nadworny [02:41]

The Origin and Meaning of "Saint Monica Lewinsky"

• [02:57 – 04:01] Langbein explains how a personal diary entry inspired the book:
  • Upon discovering her own disparaging comments about Lewinsky in a 1998 diary, Langbein felt a pang of remorse and spontaneously asked Lewinsky for forgiveness.
  • Quote:

    "...her public life, this massive world historical humiliation that she underwent, and then her subsequent grace, and I think her implicit forgiveness of those who trespassed, has made her a figure of inspiration, has created something truly larger than, quote, Monica Lewinsky." — Julia Langbein [04:01]

Jean’s Story: Regret, Desire, and Self-Forgiveness

• [05:05 – 06:18] Jean, the protagonist, is haunted not only by an ill-fated affair but also by her struggle to move past its effects decades later.

  • The relationship: a youthful, genuine affection with an older married professor during a summer abroad studying medieval churches.
  • St. Monica (Lewinsky) teaches Jean that being a giver is not a flaw.
  • Quote:

    "What St. Monica shows her is that what she is is a lover and a giver...She's been made to feel that being a pleaser and a lover and a giver is weak and stupid and degraded." — Julia Langbein [05:13]

• The question of agency and responsibility in Jean’s relationship:

  • The power imbalance is clear—David, the professor, fails to consider Jean’s future and vulnerabilities.
  • Quote:

    "He doesn't really see her personhood fully. He doesn't think of her as somebody whose future potential matters and could be hurt. And ... when it comes time to save his skin. Of course he saves his skin." — Julia Langbein [06:18]

The Complexity of Desire and the Role of Power

• [07:15 – 08:09]
  • Nadworny notes that readers may root for the romance, even knowing it’s doomed.
  • Langbein frames Jean’s desire as natural and legitimate, shifting blame to the older party's abuse of power.
  • Quote:

    "The message is, you're allowed to love. You didn't mess up. The problem is that somebody wasn't looking out for you." — Julia Langbein [07:53]

Medieval Backdrop: A Comic and Holy Stage

• [08:09 – 08:59]
  • The medieval setting is rich with religious imagery—both grotesque and sacred—mirroring Jean’s own awkwardness and search for forgiveness.
  • The period is likened to adolescence, full of oddities, which suits the novel’s themes of error and redemption.
  • Quote:

    "The medieval period is seen as the adolescence Western history. It is awkward. And so it's the perfect terrain in which to plant a story about both individual and collective error and forgiveness." — Julia Langbein [08:44]

Reflections on Modern Scandals and Collective Blind Spots

• [09:15 – 10:13]
  • Langbein observes the parallels between the Lewinsky scandal and later events like Epstein, questioning societal progress in protecting vulnerable women.
  • Quote:

    "I think actually what I want to ask is, who's in our blind spot now, and who are we going to be asking forgiveness from 20 or 30 or 50 years from now?" — Julia Langbein [10:01]

The Real Monica Lewinsky’s Involvement

• [10:13 – 10:33]
  • Lewinsky did not have to approve the book, but Langbein was deliberate about approaching it with respect, pre-sharing the text with her.
  • Quote:

    "I've been conscientious about making sure that she doesn't encounter this book in the public sphere and think she's being made fun of or something." — Julia Langbein [10:17]

The Character of Saint Monica Lewinsky: Humor, Grace, and Power

• [10:34 – 11:09]
  • Langbein experienced a creative epiphany shaping the Monica character as resilient, witty, and unassailable—restoring a "comic voice" to someone once publicly mocked.
  • Quote:

    "To give her this kind of Bugs Bunny energy where she's so chill, you know, the Elmer Fudds of the world are running around with their brutal tactics, unable to touch her. And she's not only a source of wisdom, but she comes in with a sense of humor that to me was so magical, with such a feeling of power to get to restore the comic voice to the St. Monica character." — Julia Langbein [10:34]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I forgive you." — Monica Lewinsky character, as read by Julia Langbein [03:26]
• "The message is, you’re allowed to love. You didn’t mess up. The problem is that somebody wasn’t looking out for you." — Julia Langbein [07:53]
• "The medieval period is seen as the adolescence [of] Western history. It is awkward. And so it's the perfect terrain in which to plant a story about both individual and collective error and forgiveness." — Julia Langbein [08:44]
• "Who's in our blind spot now, and who are we going to be asking forgiveness from 20 or 30 or 50 years from now?" — Julia Langbein [10:01]

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Key Timestamps

• [02:22] – Women saints and their traditional stories of temptation and suffering
• [03:05] – Jean's diary and first reflections on Monica Lewinsky
• [04:01] – The origin of turning Lewinsky into a "saint" figure
• [05:13] – Jean's needs and the damaging fallout of her past romance
• [06:18] – The power dynamic between Jean and David
• [07:53] – The legitimacy of Jean's desire and blame on power imbalance
• [08:44] – The medieval setting as metaphor for personal and cultural adolescence
• [10:01] – Reflection on past and present cultural blind spots
• [10:17] – The real Monica Lewinsky's involvement
• [10:34] – The humorous, resilient characterization of Monica Lewinsky as a comic saint

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Tone and Style

The conversation is thoughtful, layered with moments of humor and direct self-reflection. Langbein’s language is candid, occasionally wry, and always bracingly honest—matching the comic and humane spirit of her novel.

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Conclusion

Julia Langbein’s Dear Monica Lewinsky is both a witty and moving meditation on regret, forgiveness, and the cultural evolution of shame, anchored by a bold reinterpretation of Monica Lewinsky as a secular saint. The episode invites listeners to examine personal complicity, how we villainize and venerate women, and who we might owe apologies to in the future.

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Transcript

[Julia Langbein]

Hi there.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

I'm Alyssa Nadworny, and you're listening to NPR's Book of the Day. In the summer of 1998, a young college student had a romantic relationship with her professor. Today she's in her 40s, looking back and re examining the relationship, the impact it had on her life and the person she was back then. She's guided by a contemporary saint known as Monica Lewinsky, who endured public humiliation that same summer. The book is called Dear Monica Lewinsky and its author, Julia Langbein, spoke with me about the origin of the story and female saints for NPR's Weekend Edition.

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[Alyssa Nadworny]

Julia Langbein has thought a lot about the stories of the saints, particularly women saints.

[Julia Langbein]

They are often presented with a temptation. So a man, a randy pagan, comes along and wants a piece of them. They resist. They are tortured or killed for this, usually in quite gory ways, like knifed

[Alyssa Nadworny]

in the throat, burned at the stake, stretched on a rack, starved, then venerated for their steadfast faith. Their stories pepper Julia Langbein's new comic novel. But the Saint guiding the action has not been wronged to death. Instead, she's survived public humiliation without thinking about it.

[Julia Langbein]

I had invoked something more than a single life. It was an instinct, an assumption that there was some greater being called Monica Lewinsky.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

In Dear Monica lewinsky, a woman named Jean is in turmoil over her past. And as she reads her diary from 1998, she. She sees how she had judged Lewinsky for her relationship with President Clinton. Now 45 and remembering her own mistakes, Jean calls out to Monica lewinsky and gets a blast of divine intercession.

[Julia Langbein]

Then, with a pang of terror, I remember what I said about her all those years ago. How little I cared when I should have. Is she here to punish me? To make me pay? Please forgive me. I should have defended you. And instead I was unkind. She stares steadily at me, her chin rising slightly. I'm so sorry. I look at her face, a face I've known all my adult life. One that has meant a cluster of things. Ripeness and error, lusts and humiliation, and later, the surprise of survival, of new life. I forgive you.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

Why did you decide to make a saint out of Monica Lewinsky?

[Julia Langbein]

So the origin of this book is that I stumbled on a diary of mine from 1998, when I was 17 years old. And to my shock, I had said something disparaging about her in my diary, like just called her kind of stupid in passing or something. And I was so horrified at this that I put the diary down and I kind of whispered to this guy, dear Monica. Dear Monica. Dear Monica, I am so sorry. And I think the writer and the historian in me both realized that this was not just me being weird, which is entirely possible, but that I was glimpsing something collective. That her public life, this massive world historical humiliation that she underwent, and then her subsequent grace, and I think her implicit forgiveness of those who trespassed has made her a figure of inspiration, has created something truly larger than, quote, Monica Lewinsky. And I mean, again, I'm not saying that she is a saint. What I'm saying is that her public life is one that matches in many ways the trajectories of these saints.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

So she comes to kind of help Jean through crisis. What do you think Jean needs help with?

[Julia Langbein]

Jean had this affair with a college professor during a study abroad program when she was 19. And it was only for a summer, but it was really the first time she really gave her heart away. And he really cut her off in a very cruel manner afterwards. And it's not just that she feels that now 20 years later that that's derailed her life. But she even feels bad that she's let that derail her life. Like, why can't she just get over it? But what St. Monica shows her is that what she is is a lover and a giver. I mean, her natural talent is that she's a chef. She likes to please people. And she's been made to feel that being a pleaser and a lover and a giver is weak and stupid and degraded.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

Yeah, she's kind of awkward, for sure. And she's on this summer abroad program studying medieval churches in France. So she's also kind of out of her league, I guess. My question is, who kind of owns this story? You know, she pursues David, this married academic who's helping run the program. Is David pursuing her? Are they both pursuing each other?

[Julia Langbein]

I think that they are people who would connect naturally. I think that their affection for each other is real. They get each other. The problem is, David, this older professor doesn't understand that by indulging in this relationship that he knows that he can never actually fully give himself to because he's married to someone else, that he will have to hurt her. And he doesn't really care. He doesn't really see her personhood fully. He doesn't think of her as somebody whose future potential matters and could be hurt. And I think that in the moment he does care about her. But when it comes time to save his skin. Of course he saves his skin.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

I found myself kind of conflicted when I was reading because I liked Jean and I wanted her to get what she wanted. Like there's this romance element of kind of like, will they get together? How will it happen? And I actually had to check myself because I knew the summer wasn't going to end well for her.

[Julia Langbein]

That's great. I've done my job well here because I want you to feel that that desire is a good and a natural and a powerful thing. And that's not her fault, you know, being a 19 year old who's just, you know, on this like hormonal roller coaster. Right. And also she's so turned on by what she's learning and seeing. Right. Part of being a student is being really open, like open hearted, open minded. You don't want to tell someone feel. But the person who was in the position of power didn't have the guardrails on. So I think I agree, like when I'm writing it, I think her desire is legitimate and St. Monica's message isn't. You shouldn't have wanted him. You are so bad to feel this way. The message is, you're allowed to love. You didn't mess up. The problem is that somebody wasn't looking out for you.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

The backdrop for all of this is the medieval religious iconography, too, that these students are seeing in the French churches. It has this mix of, like, gross and holy.

[Julia Langbein]

Exactly. I think I describe it at one point as the era in which the holiest men have the donkey est breath. You know, the arts of antiquity, which preceded the medieval or the Renaissance, which followed. You know, these are periods in which beauty is perfection. And the medieval era is, like, so wonderfully rich for me because my comic sensibility loves the collapse of high and low. The medieval period is seen as the adolescence Western history. It is awkward. And so it's the perfect terrain in which to plant a story about both individual and collective error and forgiveness.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

Okay, so I don't want to give away the ending of this book, but I will say that it is full of wonder and humor, and it is very satisfying.

[Julia Langbein]

Oh, thank God.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

I guess I'm curious, like, had you been wanting to kind of revisit the version of this story raised by, like, the Clinton Lewinsky scandal? And do you feel like we're just ready for a new perspective?

[Julia Langbein]

You know, what interested me was the way that this fictional character could connect to this modern saint. But then, of course, I finished the first draft of this in, like, 2022 or something, and all of the Epstein stuff has come out since. And again, we saw the young women whose dignity, privacy, and personhood were disregarded. I think it's really easy to look back and say, oh, pat ourselves on the back and say, wow, we were so wrong in 1998, but we figured it out now. And I think actually what I want to ask is, who's in our blind spot now, and who are we going to be asking forgiveness from 20 or 30 or 50 years from now?

[Alyssa Nadworny]

Did you have to clear any of this with the real Monica Lewinsky?

[Julia Langbein]

We didn't have to clear it with her, but I have been conscientious about making sure that she doesn't encounter this book in the public sphere and think she's being made fun of or something. We've sent her the text of this before anyone else received it, things like that. So I'm very aware that she is a real, living, breathing human being.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

Did she answer your prayer?

[Julia Langbein]

You know what? I have never had a character come to me with such completeness in an actual epiphany, because also in 1998, Monica Lewinsky was the butt of every joke. And to give her this kind of Bugs Bunny energy where she's so chill, you know, the Elmer Fudds of the world are running around with their brutal tactics, unable to touch her. And she's she's not only a source of wisdom, but she comes in with a sense of humor that to me was so magical, with such a feeling of power to get to restore the comic voice to the St. Monica character.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

That's Julia Langbein. Her new novel is Dear Monica Lewinsky. Thank you so much for talking with us about it.

[Julia Langbein]

Thank you so much, Alyssa. It's been a pleasure.

[Alyssa Nadworny]

And just a quick reminder that signing up for book of the day plus is a great way to support NPR's book coverage and public media. And you'll get to listen to every episode sponsor free. So please go find out more at plus.NPR.org book of the day.

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[Alyssa Nadworny]

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