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All About Eve
The Washingtonienne
by Jessica Cutler
by Jessica Cutler
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 fiancé. 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 scandal
(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. P&A
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 fiancé. 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 scandal
(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. P&A
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