The Correspondent: A Novel

About This Product

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OVER TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD • Discover the word-of-mouth hit hailed by Ann Patchett as “A cause for celebration”—an intimate novel about the transformative power of the written word and the beauty of slowing down to reconnect with the people we love.“This novel is a complete and utter joy.”—Ann Napolitano, author of Hello Beautiful“Quietly dazzling.”—The New York Times“I cried more than once as I witnessed this brilliant woman come to understand herself more deeply.”—Florence Knapp, author of The Names In development as a major motion picture WINNER OF THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION • LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE AND THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Elle, Christian Science Monitor, She Reads“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.

Product Details

Manufacturer

by Virginia Evans (Author) Format: Hardcover

ASIN

0593798430

Customer Reviews Summary

Virginia Evans creates immersive storylines and resonant characters. Her style blends pathos, introspection, suspense, and the compelling pull of the everyday — add a sprinkle of perfect comic timing.The Correspondent — aptly titled — unfolds entirely through letters. It’s an epistolary novel, told through Sybil Van Antwerp’s correspondence from 2012 to 2022. Letters from her childhood are included, too, so we end up piecing together her snail mail, emails, postcards, and even unsent drafts as if we’re literary detectives reconstructing a life.Sybil, her family, friends, and foes lived in my head for the entire duration of the read. Their fully formed personalities and messy, glorious lives occupied my thoughts even when I wasn’t reading. I began to wonder if this phenomenon had a name — turns out, it does: “experiential crossing.” It’s that delicious blurring of your world with a fictional one, driven by empathy and the brain’s gift for building mental models of people who don’t technically exist. And boy, did they ever feel real.Normally, I’d summarize the plot and introduce the cast, but I won’t — because that would spoil the joy of discovery. (Okay, fine, I’ll give just one tiny peek.) Our protagonist, Sybil Van Antwerp, is a fiercely unapologetic 73-year-old woman whose letters are as bold, vulnerable, and witty as she is.Sybil’s need to connect through letter writing becomes her lifeline — and those who receive her words can’t help but respond in kind. We feel her hesitancy to confide in one person completely, so instead she parcels out pieces of her story to many. No single friend knows her whole truth, but by the end, we — the readers — do.Why the obsession with letter writing? Because for Sybil, writing it down is safer than saying it out loud. Pages can handle what face-to-face can’t. As her correspondence unfolds, what emerges is poignant, heartbreaking, and darkly funny. Her secrets — and her secret thoughts — spill out in a way only a lifetime of unsent and sent letters can.Start reading and meet Sybil Van Antwerp. You won’t just get to know her — you’ll feel like she’s been writing to you all along.