Dear Monica Lewinsky: A Novel

From the acclaimed author of American Mermaid comes a wildly original examination of female desire and the price women pay for giving in to their appetites. Described by critics as a rare "comic novel with heft," this narrative burns brightly with a singular ability to make readers laugh out loud while laying bare the specific travails of being a young woman.

The story follows a protagonist in her mid-forties who cannot escape the shadow of a choice made several decades ago. After being jolted out of a long-standing malaise by a sudden contact from her past, she is filled with a pressing need to understand how a deeply inappropriate relationship from her youth derailed the trajectory of her life.

As she revisits her old diaries, she is shocked to discover the parallels between her own history and the cultural climate of the late 1990s. In a journey fueled by guilt and a search for clarity, she finds herself seeking guidance from a secular saint of persecuted women. Through a series of surreal visitations—acting as a saucy guide to her own history—she is led back in time to reassess what really happened during those sunlit weeks that changed her life forever. Was she merely weak, or was there something deeper about her nature that led her into the affair?

Told through vivid flashbacks interspersed with irreverent accounts of female martyrs and supernatural insights, this work is a tender, hilarious, and thought-provoking examination of how desire shapes us. It offers a timely and brilliant investigation into what grace and forgiveness look like in our personal lives and throughout history. This is a must-read for fans of literary fiction looking for a story that is as intellectually stimulating as it is emotionally resonant.