The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

                                                       

Paperback:   288 pages                                                                         

Genre:  Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Fiction, 

Publisher:  Penguin Paperback 2026

Source:  Tywyn Library

Literary Awards:  *WINNER OF THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2026*
Audie Award for Ensemble Performance and Nominee for Fiction (2026), Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Audiobook (2025), Women's Prize for Fiction (2026), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Fiction and for Debut Novel (2025), The Rooster -- The Morning News Tournament of Books Nominee for Longlist (2026), The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Nominee for Longlist(2025), She Reads Best of Award Nominee for Book of the Year (2025), Libby Award Nominee for Best Audiobook and Best Debut (2026)

Setting: Maryland, USA.  

First Sentences: At last, on Monday around ten or half past, Sybil Van Antwerp carries the mug of Irish breakfast tea with milk to her desk.

Review Quote:  'Immensely enjoyable' Guardian

My Opinion:

I have been wanting to read ‘The Correspondent’ for sometime now. Mainly because since publication last year it has been nominated for so many literary awards and I wanted to find out why.

In this her debut novel, the author Virginia Evans has given us a memorable protagonist in Sybil Van Antwerp. Sybil uses letter writing as communication and the novel is written as a series of letters, sent and received, through which the reader gets to know how life has treated her.

A unique idea which was an emotional read. Letters are not an easy format for a novelist to use as a medium to tell a story through. Virginia Evans has done so successfully and compassionately.  Highly recommended.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

Every morning, Sybil Van Antwerp sits down to write letters – to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to attend a class she desperately wants to take, to her favourite authors to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.

Because at seventy-three, Sybil has used her correspondence – witty and wise – to make sense of the world. But beyond the page, she has spent the last thirty years keeping the people who love her at arms’ length... Until letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life.

Now, Sybil must send the letter she has been writing for all these years - and find forgiveness within herself in order to move on.

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.

Author Profile:

                                                                                                              

                                                Photo and Bio Courtesy of Amazon

Virginia Evans is from the east coast of the United States and was born in 1986.  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.

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Goodreads Profile   Amazon Author Page.   Wikipedia Profile.    Author - Official Website