Very quickly into reading this I knew that I was going to have a terrible time trying to describe what the heck this book is. I will do my best, because I know that coming across someone unpacking what the heck the standard blurb on this is talking about can greatly impact your taking a chance on it in the first place (my reading of it is narfna’s fault, she reviewed it in her April 30 Books in 30 Days part 2 vlog, if you want to hear her thoughts.) What we have here is a fabulist book that weaves the very ordinary remembrances of Jean, a woman reflecting on her inappropriate relationship with a college professor during a summer intensive in France with the saintly spirit of Monica Lewinsky who you will remember experienced her own inappropriate relationship with an older man in power. This book presupposes that saints can be formed by the mental power of the people who “pray” to them so the real Monica is existing out in the world living her normal life (as she is now) and the ‘saint’ Monica is an entirely separate entity from her but imbued with her knowledge. The saintly Monica comes to Jean when she is at a breaking point to help her process what happened in the summer of 1998 and how it has impacted her 25 years later.
Super straightforward, right?
But what this structure does is let Langbein explore deep human emotions and how perspective changes everything. The book progresses through Jean showing Saint Monica her own experience, and Monica reflecting on it with her – mostly in the form of witty asides from a friend who is not afraid to tell you about yourself. This is a book of reckoning and healing paired with art history and Christian saints, but it is also a funny look at the absurdities of life under patriarchy. The mid-section of the book dragged for me a bit (while wonderfully described the early part of the studying churches wasn’t my favorite) but the way Langbein layers the various components and ramps up towards the end worked for me and has me rounding this up to 5 stars without question.
Bingo Space: Summer. This book focuses on the summer of 1998.
