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4.0
The Correspondent
ByPublisher Description
“Imagine, the letters one has sent out into the world, the letters received back in turn, are like the pieces of a magnificent puzzle. . . . 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?”
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 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’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.
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 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’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.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Correspondent Reviews
4.0
“i can’t lie. i started reading this book out of skepticism because of all the hype surrounding it but wow. more than anything, I loved how sybil’s character is portrayed in a raw and unflinching manner through her correspondence in this book. at the start of the story, we are presented with this bitter and stubborn elderly woman who is struggling to connect with her children in a meaningful way. i loved how virginia evans purposefully showed the humane side of sybil when she is interacting with rosalia, harry and felix. to be honest, there is nothing crazy happening in terms of the plot so much of the book’s value comes from our ability to understand sybil since we are stuck with her dialogue for almost the entire book. she is not a likeable woman and that is exactly the point. at the end of the day, i love her growth throughout this book and how evans depicts the effects of grieving on different people. i also loved sybil’s revelation that she prefers correspondence over direct conversations because it allows her to streamline her thoughts and distant herself from fiona near the end of the book. as a lover of words, writing and reading like sybil, i feel like i always knew this deep down but i never conceptualised this fact clearly in my mind until i read that part. anyways, if you can’t tell from my long review (and how i devoured this book in just a few hours), this is one of my favourite reads this year. the hype is so deserved and I need to read virginia evans’ other books ASAP. (P.S. please read this when listening to what’s wrong with me/less/ cigarette smoke by olivia rodrigo it will change your life I SWEAR.)”Start a Book Club
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