- The Washingtonienne by Jessica Cutler (2005)
- ISBN-13: 9781401302009
There was once a woman who drank, smoked, used vulgar language, and used men to get what she wanted--or thought she wanted--out of life. This was back in the 1980s and that woman of fiction was called Alexis Carrington Colby of the hit television show Dynasty.
In the '90s, this archetypal construction was followed by another less powerful but of the same vein type of creature called Amanda on the dubious hit television series Melrose Place. She too used men to get what she wanted and like her predecessor possessed a headstrong determination to live life by her rules, to live pleasurably in the moment, and to bounce back with almost as much cunning, skill and gusto as Elizabeth Taylor's sexy, shrewd turn as Maggie the Cat from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
It is Jessica Cutler's insightful and thinly-veiled novel, The Washingtonienne, that brings us the next generation of this type of woman--younger than Alexis Colby, Amanda, and Maggie the Cat in their respective stories--who comes to Washington, D.C. after the turbulent ending of her New York relationship, which she precipitated by being unfaithful to her fiance. The difference between New York and Washington, D.C. is like night and day and our protagonist is baffled by the new power hungry buttoned-up culture ("like Hollywood for the ugly"), yet never at a loss for self-preservation.
Jacqueline Turner is unemployed by the time she arrives in Washington, D.C., but is always striving to live it up, drinking, smoking, popping pills and having plenty of sex with a list of part-time paramours (mostly men) that grows longer and complicated with each passing day. It is this resume that eventually causes her to begin a blog called The Washingtonienne, which spells out all of her exploits online for all to see and which eventually comes back to haunt her in this tight knit town, where she has become employed by a United States senator.
Cutler's page-turner is just that, as it zips through her heroine's debauchery revealing something of amazement. It is not her thinly-veiled or referenced characters that are memorable, but what they do and what it implies in the town that is the nation's capital. First and foremost we realize, by Turner's admission, that "If Washington's dirty little secret was sex, New York's was its epidemic of eating disorders." And by Turner's account, or her actions (whichever you prefer), Washington's dirty little secret is sex.
This is the same Washington of Gary Condit and Chaundra Levy, of Bill and Monica, of the revelation of Jesse Helm's black daughter, of the Capitol Hill/page boy scandals (Why don't congressmen use bookmarks? Because they bend over their pages!). And by Turner's testimony, nothing has changed. Disillusioned married men are still having plenty of sex on the side, young studs are still engaged in kinky rendevous, and young women who work as government aids are still hooking up in Washington's hottest bars and clubs.
Another item of interest is the candor of Cutler's Turner as she offers humorous, frank descriptions of the nuances of Washington, D.C., the transient nature of the town, the ladder climbing, how it differs entirely from New York in its pace and outlook, how it differs entirely from any other town for that matter. The rich are different here and so are the poor, who may work right beside you in the next cubicle on the Hill.
Finally, Cutler allows for her protagonist to bring the reader a first hand view of the up and coming generation--as it applies to Washington, D.C. and even New York. We are privy to their habits and morals, ethics and ambitions or lack thereof. Cutler's book may not be for everyone--it is what some would label `good trash'--but it is assuredly an insightful and amusing breezy summer read, and will likely strike fear in the hearts of any parents who send their youngsters off to D.C. for an internship. One can only hope--parents and children alike--that they'll survive the experience without scandal.
Brand New Hard Cover with Dust Jacket. MSRP $23.95 USA / $32.95 Canada
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