Virginia Evans: The Correspondent

Hi everyone

The Correspondent is Virginia Evans’ debut novel. As far as I know, she hasn’t published anything else, but I do hope she will, because this was a joy to read. 
I got my book from Bol.

"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."

This was a wonderful read. I enjoyed the experience the whole way through.

Even though Sybil is cold, judgmental, unkind, insensitive and in general not really likeable, I was able to understand her and sympathise with her; and that’s actually what I want more of in a book. Characters don’t have to be likeable to make a good book, but they have to be realistic, they have to act and feel like actual people, and I feel that’s exactly how Virginia Evans wrote her characters. Not just Sybil, but the side characters too. A lot of them are minor characters of whom we see only bits and pieces, but it makes Sybil’s life and character more rounded and realistic as a whole.

I LOVED the references to books the characters were reading and the letters Sybil writes to real authors. Those moments felt so precious and heartwarming. The novel as a whole feels warm and nostalgic, precisely because it’s letters she writes, something quite intimate.

The whole book could have been overly dramatic or filled with misplaced mystery or suspense, but it never goes there. Instead, it’s charming, meandering, heartwarming, at times emotional, thought-provoking, and sorrowful.
There’s one big but: I didn’t like how perfect the ending was. It wrapped things up a little too neatly for my taste.
And there were some reactions I felt were wrong, out of character or just strange (like Sybil's reaction to the cat).

Have you read The Correspondent? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena