The Correspondent: Deluxe Edition - by Virginia Evans (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A deluxe hardcover edition of the year's breakout novel, The Correspondent, featuring:

- Printed case wrap with textured debossing
- Deckled edges
- Full-color designed endpapers
- Bookmark ribbon
- Exclusive letter from author

"Subtly told and finely made, The Correspondent is a portrait of a small life expanding. Virginia Evans shows how one woman changes at a point when change had seemed impossible. That change, like this novel, turns out to be a cause for celebration."--Ann Patchett

"Dear Ms. Van Antwerp,

There is a movie coming out this month and I saw the trailer and it made me think of you. It's about an old woman who lives alone like a hermit. She is eccentric and rude...."

Sybil Van Antwerp is a mother and grandmother, divorced, retired from a distinguished career in law, an avid gardener, and a writer of letters. 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.

Because at seventy-three, Sybil has used her letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. But as Sybil expects her life to go on as it always has, letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life.

Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, The Correspondent is a gem of a novel that is a testament to the power of the written word.

Review Quotes

"Subtly told and finely made, The Correspondent is a portrait of a small life expanding. Virginia Evans shows how one woman changes at a point when change had seemed impossible. That change, like this novel, turns out to be a cause for celebration."--Ann Patchett

"The Correspondent is at turns amusing and, poignant and ultimately, a pleasure to read. This moving novel unfurls its truths one letter at a time, filling in a complex and memorable picture of one woman's life. Like a handwritten letter at its best, The Correspondent is meant to be savored."--Charmaine Wilkerson, New York Times bestselling author of Black Cake

"This novel is a complete and utter joy."--Ann Napolitano

"Evans's enchanting epistolary novel revolves around prickly septuagenarian Sybil Van Antwerp . . . [with] a dash of mystery that keeps the pages flying."--The Washington Post

"The word-of-mouth bestseller of 2025 might be this quietly dazzling epistolary novel, which calls to mind Susie Boyt's 'Loved and Missed, ' another book that was passed around like a beloved recipe. . . . Note by note, Sybil's world takes shape, raising poignant, timely questions about mercy and how we're all connected."--The New York Times, "Book of the Week"

"The charming debut from Evans takes the form of letters and emails exchanged by a divorced and retired woman with her friends, family, foes, and literary idols. . . . the detailed connections between each character are brilliantly mapped through the correspondence. It adds up to an appealing family drama."--Publishers Weekly

"The circus of beautifully drawn characters, who receive and respond to Sybil's letters, is vibrant and rich. Sybil has survived trauma, grief, and lost love. The letters are so deliciously crafted, Sybil's life itself becomes a work of art."--Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of The Good Left Undone

"I finished this wonderful, wonderful book in tears, and had to take a moment--several moments--to pull myself together. . . . Equal parts sorrow and quiet joy, the stuff of life, it will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you reflect, as all the best novels do."--Fran Littlewood, New York Times bestselling author of Amazing Grace Adams

"I can't praise it enough. Sybil is such a wonderful character, and the supporting cast so vivid and real. For a book about grief and regret it was also properly funny. It's an absolute triumph."--Clare Chambers, bestselling author of Small Pleasures and Shy Creatures

"Thank you, Virginia Evans, for a life beautifully told in letters, for creating a character whose mind struggles with her heart in a most intriguing, sympathetic, witty, and binge-worthy way."--Elinor Lipman, author of Ms. Demeanor

"The Correspondent is the rarest of debuts with not a misplaced word or beat missed. Moving, funny and exquisite, it is a masterpiece in human frailty."--Anne Griffin, #1 Irish bestselling author of When All Is Said

"What a lovely novel, I fell in love with the eloquent, stubborn Sybil, such a wonderful character."--Margot Livesey, New York Times bestselling author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy and The Road from Belhaven

"Charming, engrossing, and deeply moving, Evans's novel explores the way everyday choices and relationships shape a life and shows it's never too late to form new connections, make amends, or even fall in love."--Booklist

About the Author

Virginia Evans is from the east coast of the United States. She attended James Madison University for her bachelor's in English literature, as well as Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, for her master's of philosophy in creative writing. Now she lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with her husband, two children, and her Red Labrador, Brigid.