The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

About the book:

with thanks to the publisher

Imagine, the letters one has sent out into the world, the letters received back in turn, are like the pieces of a magnificent puzzle, or, a better metaphor, if dated, the links of a long chain, and even if those links are never put back together, which they will certainly never be, even if they remain for the rest of time dispersed across the earth like the fragile blown seeds of a dying dandelion, isn’t there something wonderful in that, to think that a story of one’s life is preserved in some way, that this very letter may one day mean something, even if it is a very small thing, to someone?”
Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.

Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has—a mother, grandmother, wife, divorcee, distinguished lawyer, she has lived a very full life. But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life, she realizes that the letter she has been writing over the years needs to be read and that she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness.

Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, The Correspondent is a gem of a novel about the power of finding solace in literature and connection with people we might never meet in person. It is about the hubris of youth and the wisdom of old age, and the mistakes and acts of kindness that occur during a lifetime. Sybil Van Antwerp’s life of letters might be “a very small thing,” but she also might be one of the most memorable characters you will ever read.

About the author:

Virginia Evans is from the east coast of the United States. She attended James Madison University for her bachelor’s in English literature. After starting a family, she went back to school for her master’s of philosophy in creative writing at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, where she had the good fortune to study under Carlo Gébler, Eoin McNamee, Claire Keegan, Harry Clifton and Kevin Power. She now lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with her husband, Mark, two children, Jack and Mae, and her Red Labrador, Brigid.

My thoughts:

Anyone who remembers a time when snail mail was all there was, anyone who enjoys receiving mail (maybe just a birthday card once a year), anyone who longs for letters and loves the way writers express themselves in them will most definitely want to read this book. I am so very glad that I did.

This entire story unfolds in the letters that Sibyl writes. As she composes them, the reader get to know her and those around her. Sibyl has taken on many roles over her long life-she has been an attorney, a wife, a mother, a sister-in-law, a friend, a neighbor, a class auditor…and the list goes on. Sibyl expresses herself so well on paper in this book that is a love letter to the epistolary form.

Those who appreciate good fiction that is well written will absolutely want to pick this one up. It is a title to savor.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.

PS. Watch for who Sibyl writes to (Joan Didion for one) and the books that she is reading. They enhanced my experience with this novel.

Pub date: 25 April 2025

From the Publisher: