Book Review: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Publisher: Random House Audio
Release Date: April 29, 2025
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

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.

Sybil Van Antwerp is an elderly lady who prefers to communicate through the written word, whether it be by letter or email, with her preference being an old-fashioned letter written with pen on paper. The Correspondent is an epistolary novel composed of her letters to the people in her life. In addition to her family, Sybil writes to famous authors, and they actually write her back. She even has prospective suitors write to her. She’s a spunky gal and some of her letters are quite humorous. Some are serious, as her life and the life of some of her friends and family have been touched by tragedy at various times in their lives. This book is at once heartbreaking and heartwarming.

I listed to the audiobook, and I think that added to the experience of reading this book. Each character is voiced by a different narrator, which I enjoyed. It made it easy to keep track of who was who.

Highly recommended.