Life, loss and literature as seen through a woman's letters

At the age of 73, Sybil Van Antwerp is or has been many things...an adopted child, a wife and mother, a legal clerk for an accomplished judge, and a lover of literature to name just a few. She is a woman of strong opinions who doesn't always filter them to the degree that others might like, and finds that she communicates best with those in her life through letters rather than direct conversation. Things are becoming more challenging for her at this point in her life....she is starting to lose her eyesight (though she's not inclined to share that with her family or friends), she may have a stalker connected to a past period of her life, and her always-strained relationship with her daughter is at a breaking point. Through the letters she writes to family, friends, authors of books she has enjoyed, and in some cases people with whom she just plain has a bone to pick, a sense of who Sybil is emerges as does a hint of what her future might hold.
It is always a gift to open a book by an author and know within the first few pages that I am about to meet a character who will spring fully to life as the book unfolds, and The Correspondent is just such a book. Sybil can be a bit judgmental, at times cranky, and definitely has layers that she keeps close to her chest, reminding me of author Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge. As the other people in her life...her brother Felix, Harry the son of a friend who struggles to fit in with the world, her best friend and former sister-in-law Rosalie, and so many others...appear through the letters they exchange with Sybil, Sybil's past is made clearer to the reader. A tragic loss, a divorce, and a career to which she devoted much of her life yet whose value she now questions are intertwined with book recommendations to friends and letters sent to authors whose work she admires (I'll be honest, so many of the books and authors she mentions are ones that I have loved that it made me feel like a kindred spirit at least in a literary sense). I don't know if I would want Sybil as a parent or close family member, but I am certain that I would thoroughly enjoy being someone with whom she would exchange letters. Author Virginia Evans explores the challenges of aging and the intricacies of human interactions with humor and compassion, and has woven a beguiling story with a protagonist who makes a difference in the many lives she touches and whom I won't soon forget. Readers who enjoyed Helene Hanff's 84, Charing Cross Road or who are fans of Ann Patchett, Alice Hoffman and the aforementioned Elizabeth Strout should waste no time in securing a copy of this gem of a novel. Many thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for allowing me access to this superbly crafted novel in exchange for my honest review.

I can’t recommend Virginia Evans’ novel, The Correspondent, highly enough. If you like epistolary novels with a depth of character, meet Sybil Van Antwerp.

Sybil is retired from practicing law. She’s divorced, a mother and grandmother who lives in Annapolis, Maryland. And, she writes letters, to friends, relatives, and authors who move her. She’s a reader who writes to Joan Didion, Ann Patchett, Diana Gabaldon, and Larry McMurtry. In 2012, she’s seventy-three. Her letters allow her the opportunity to explore her friendships, her own history. But, it will still be a few years before Sybil can confront her own past, and the impact some of her actions had on others.

Although her son, Bruce, lives nearby and visits, Sybil’s relationship with her daughter, Fiona, is fraught. Fiona lives in London, and both women have kept secrets from each other. They haven’t been close for years. When Sybil and her husband divorced, Fiona chose to move to Belgium with her father. Despite her writing habits, Sybil and Fiona can’t communicate.

As we see over the years, Sybil does try to open herself up to others, including her sister-in-law, a young boy, the troubled son of a former colleague, and even a foreigner working in tech for a website. But, it takes years for Sybil to open up and be truthful with herself.

The Correspondent is really a novel about life, about aging, illness, and how we end up where we do. We get to know Sybil, but wonder about the unfinished letter she writes for years, and never sends. There are family problems, health issues, death. There are men in Sybil’s life, even as she reaches seventy-eight, a retired lawyer, and the neighbor. Evans does an excellent job developing them and their characters, although we see them through Sybil’s eyes. Sybil also reveals the sexism that influenced her career in the law, and the sexism that still plays a part in academia.

I don’t know how to summarize this beautiful story. At it’s heart, it’s about life, the impact we have on others. It’s about changing relationships, and changes in ourselves. It’s a beautiful novel.

This book is a compilation of letters. Letters sent and letters received. It centers around Sybil who is an avid letter writer. Her missives weave together a history of events and stories of various people she corresponds with and forms an interesting and intriguing story.
I loved how the author took many very different stories and told them through letters. It was interesting to see how Sybil wrote with a different voice to all her correspondents. Sometimes she was soft, sometimes she was motherly, and sometimes she was introspective. And it was always engaging.
This is a must read. And I bet you want to hand write a letter to someone when you finish.
Enjoy!

I love stories written letter or diary form, so this was a no brainer for me. The story comes together through these letters to friends. The characters are fantastic. This is a wonderful coming of age story and I think it will really appeal to book clubs.

The beauty of epistolary literature is that the reader participates a historian looking for clues and revelling in getting to know characters piecemeal. I love that the lead character, Sybil van Antwerp, is the ultimate correspondent, sending letters to family, friends, acquaintances, famous people. I also appreciate the timeliness of Evan's novel: the correspondent is a dying breed. But what day-to-day loveliness, what intimate contact, what grief, what frustration, can be written about and shared in letters? And most are not via email, but handwritten and posted and put into a mailbox.

The other beauty of this novel is moving through life as an older person, one whose body is no longer as functional as it was, one who has practice in the art of losing people, one who has seen some things and experienced the joy and tribulations of a long life, but whose mind is as crisp as a fresh apple.

I wonder if you, like me, will be inspired to take up a pen and write someone (or simply reach out and contact an old friend) after reading this novel.

Many thanks to Crown and NetGalley for access to the advanced copy. I am not compensated for my review.

The Correspondent
Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book will be published on 4/29/2025.

We meet Sybil through her letters and occasional Emails to her family, best friend, neighbor and other “people of interest.” She frequently shares her thoughts on the book she is reading and her taste in books is delightfully varied.

Themes include relationships, grief and nature.

I really enjoy this form of storytelling and was hooked before I finished reading Sybil’s first letter to her brother. Highly recommend.I

A book of letters…and I was drawn to the story they told beginning at the beginning. I love that it was the story of an older, single woman, with family issues, a love for books, a success in her communications to authors of the books she read…and that her writing held more in the unsent letters than I detected. She was attractive to men, she carried her own way into auditing college classes, and she had devoted friends both her age and one two generations younger. A good read!

This quiet book has a slow start, but the last half will have you amazed at how beautifully the main character is studied and untangled through her correspondence with family, friends and really anyone she has something to say something to. It is such a lost art- letter writing - so I think there is such satisfaction in reading this style of book composed solely of letters. The character you judge in the first half will have you sitting with a knot in your throat and a sense of shame in your judging in the end. Very well done- just be ready for a very quiet book.

When you get to the end of your life, what will you reflect on? Such is the life of Sybil Van Antwerp, as told through her written communication. She articulates and chronicles through letter writing, a lost art, or is it? Sybil has been a correspondent the majority of her life, therefore, she and the people she writes, have letters that tell of her career and the decisions she made in the course of her life. She is at the end of the spectrum of her interesting life; she is divorced and doesn't have a close relationship with her daughter. She, also, has a couple of men pursuing her. This story tells how she comes to reconcile relationships and circumstances she feels are left unresolved. We learn that Sybil's correspondences have always been an outlet for her emotions and the letters also, allow her time to contemplate people's words so she can make proper decisions.

I really enjoyed the style of writing through the main character's expression through letter writing. It was unique and fresh. The reader is able to glean tidbits of her life a little at a time, which provides engagement to the reader to piece together the puzzle that unfolds. I thought Sybil was a strong character and loved the relationship she has with her sister. I, also, thought the relationship with her neighbor was endearing. Amazing story!

Thank you to, NetGalley and Crown Publishing, for the advanced reader's copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#NetGalley #TheCorrespondant #WomensFiction

🌟𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪🌟
“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 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦?”

Ir’s not often that a book touches me the way 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧 has. This beautiful debut from Virginia Evans is told entirely through letters to and from Sybil Van Antwerp, a 73-year-old woman who has lived a full life. Through her correspondence with family, friends, a customer service rep at a DNA testing site and several famous authors, the reader gets her backstory as well as a look at how someone can change even when they think it’s no longer possible. I went through all the emotions while listening to the full-cast audiobook, and I found myself ugly crying (in the best way) by the end. I give it all the stars!

I’ve had the pleasure of exchanging messages with the author (DMs aren’t as exciting as letters but still...) and I asked about the addresses in the book. She shared that some are real - like Parnassus Books & Joan Didion’s apartment - while others were made up. I’ve enjoyed our correspondence and I think Sybil would approve.

Thanks PRH Audio & Crown Publishing for the copies to review.

Oh how I loved this book! Turning 50 this year has made me very reflective of my life and choices, so I see a lot of myself in Sybil, the main character.
I love how the book was told through letters which is not something I always enjoy, but here it worked. I cannot wait to read more from this author

The story is told through letters written to various people by Sybil, a retired lawyer in her 70s living in Annapolis. Overall, I loved Sybil and the characters in the book, but the letter format got tedious and sometimes confusing. Perhaps removing one or two of the people Sybil wrote letters to would have helped a bit. Sybil is a great character, and I could see this ending up as a limited TV series.

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.

Phenomenal read. This is a different format from most stories, told in the form of letters. Very well done. Coming of age in a different sense. I absolutely loved this!

I received an advanced complimentary digital copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

An epistolary novel, I think, must be one of the hardest forms of novel to write and Evans does an excellent job. Through her letters sent and received from 2010 through 2022, we slowly learn who Sybil is through her life experiences, as well as the other characters. The correspondent is a slow burn…ending in wonderful fulfilling embers at the end.

There is something very intriguing about an epistolary novel. This is a novel told entirely through letters. It tells the story of Sybil Van Antwerp. She sits daily to write and receive letters. Through them you learn that she was a lawyer with a successful career who went on to be a chief clerk for a judge who had been a work partner. She was married, now divorced and has two grown children and grandchildren. The story begins in 2012 when Sybil is retired. Her correspondence to siblings, children and others fill in what is going on in her life and gives you enough of her history to learn about her character and things that have shaped her. As a bonus she also occasionally writes authors of books she enjoys and gets replies from them as well.

The beauty of the novel is seeing where the letters lead. Some are quick catch ups or for entertainment. But others contain important nuggets and life events. And there is a slight mystery of whom she addresses some of her letters. (I guessed that one correctly.) I found I cared for Sybil and was glad there was happiness along with regret. I didn’t understand her guilt over the one case but I get that it impacted her later years. I enjoyed reading the story and think it would be something my book club would enjoy. (4.5 Stars)

Sybil Van Antwerp is a cantankerous septuagenarian who lives for and thrives on order. At the same time, she’s perfectly content to sit down and correspond the old-fashioned way, through letters.


I must confess, while I’ve never steamed open someone else’s mail to read what wasn’t meant for me, this book is the next best thing.


Through her letters to family, friends, neighbors, and even authors she admires, Sybil expresses her truest feelings: unfiltered and unapologetic. But when she receives a letter from someone in her past, it stirs up a painful chapter of her life.


I know someone just like Sybil. Dare I say, she too is a curmudgeon. While many of her former coworkers found her prickly, I’ve always tried to see beneath the surface and understand her as more than just a former colleague. She, too, is a septuagenarian, and soon to be an octogenarian. I used to wonder if it’s a generational thing. This novel actually gave me deeper insight into her personality and what might be troubling her. Granted, it won't be the same as Sybil but instead, it is insight and unfolding of another person's life story.


This is a powerful novel, written in an epistolary format. I learned so much, and while I’m trying not to give too much away, I’ll leave you with this: after reading it, I can honestly say this book is a true work of art. I’m floored that it’s the author’s debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

✨I am absolutely astounded at the way this author managed to piece together bits of our main character’s life in epistolary format to paint the vibrant, triumphant, sorrowful, quietly beautiful life story of one Sybil Van Antwerp. At its heart, this book is a celebration of a life in all its beauty and heartbreak.

✨I can tell you right now that this will be a contender for my book of the year this year. From time to time, a character comes along that I know will never leave me. Sybil Van Antwerp is one of them.

✨PLEASE READ THIS BOOK! It’s a masterpiece.

🌿Read if you like:
✨Books about books
✨Author appreciation
✨Debut authors
✨Epistolary novels
✨Literary fiction
✨Second chances
✨Tearjerkers

The Correspondent is the kind of book that feels like a light, easy read as you begin, but it has you neglecting your responsibilities before long, eagerly turning pages to find out where the story is going. Sybil Van Antwerp is a character that will live in my heart forever, and Virginia Evans' beautiful novel is a tribute to the power of the written word.

The Correspondent is an epistolary novel that takes place entirely through letters written and received by Sybil Van Antwerp, a retired judicial clerk, mother of two adult children with whom she has a somewhat strained relationship, and avid reader and letter writer. We get to know Sybil very well as she writes letters to authors she has read, her best friend since childhood, a neighbor, a former colleague's young son, a customer service representative, and many others-- even the department head of a local college where she wants permission to audit courses. The letters made me want to begin correspondence with my own friends and relatives, as the writings gave insight into Sybil's thoughts and emotions in a way that only the written word is able. I found myself feeling deeply sad for her as I learned more about what events had shaped her.

I am completely awed by the way the author wove these various letters into the telling of a deeply moving story of a woman with accomplishments who also has big regrets and is realizing that sometimes it may be too late to mend fences. The Correspondent is a novel that will not soon be forgotten, and is one of the more unique books I have read (in a good way).

Thank you to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for the digital ARC of The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. The opinions in this review are my own.

This book is amazing. Truly a work of art. Smart, well written and kept me rapt from page one. Sybil’s a smart woman who has always used the written word as a way of both gathering her thoughts and communication. It’s an emotional read while she tries to find she tries to move forward, find forgiveness in her heart and move forward. An emotional read, but a beautiful one.

There are far too few novels written in the epistolary format, and "The Correspondent" reminded me why they're my favorite to read—these stories unfold through the intimate act of letter-writing itself, revealing character through carefully chosen words meant for specific eyes.

In the midst of a slight reading slump—unable to find a book that captured my interest and attention—I began reading "The Correspondent." With a gentle ease that felt like a warm welcome, I entered the world of Sybil Van Antwerp, a retired legal expert who worked for years as the right-hand of a prominent judge.

Sybil's days now revolve around correspondence. She crafts thoughtful letters to her brother about their shared childhood memories, writes encouraging notes to the troubled young son of a former colleague who needs guidance, and maintains an unsent series of letters to an unnamed recipient that reveal her most private thoughts. Each letter unveils another layer of this complex woman who never felt at home in the world, and so turned to written words as her true medium of connection.

What makes this novel exceptional is how the author uses the epistolary format to show rather than tell. Through Sybil's carefully chosen words and observations, we witness her remarkable intelligence, her prickly wit, and her unique capacity for caring—all conveyed through the letters she sends and those she chooses to keep private.

"The Correspondent" is a gentle giant of a book; deeply moving and memorable with a quiet strength personified in the formidable figure of Sybil Van Antwerp. For readers who appreciate character-driven stories and the beauty of carefully crafted prose, this novel offers a reading experience as intimate and revealing as receiving a handwritten letter from a dear friend.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for granting me an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions.