“The Correspondent” ~ by Virginia Evans
Every day, Sybil Van Antwerp sits at her desk and writes letters. She writes letters to her friends, her neighbours, to famous authors, to the local university – they are “the correspondence that is her manner of living”. We discover that Sybil had an illustrious legal career, while also reading anonymous letters from someone in her past with a grudge. With each letter Sybil’s character gradually unfolds to the reader – she is an intelligent, spiky, brilliant woman, but surrounded by emotional armour of her own making. Sybil returns frequently to one long, unfinished letter to ‘Colt’, whom she updates on her activities, her backstory, and her health – she has a degenerative eye condition and one day soon will be blind, no longer able to read or write as she always has.
As we learn more about Sybil’s character, we see a woman who appears unshakeable, but who within herself doubts everything. She is loved by many people but has by habit pushed them away; the letters show her gradual softening and growth, as she begins to step outside the comfort zone she is in denial about inhabiting. Her letters represent simultaneously her search for real human contact and the barriers she erects against it – while yearning to be understood and accepted, she cannot allow anyone to get close to her. The novel spans ten years, with Sybil’s urgency and introspection increasing as time tugs her inexorably towards blindness.
The Correspondent is a nod to the classic epistolary novel with a modern feel. Writing by hand might feel deliberately archaic in the day of ubiquitous electronic communication, but Sybil drafts and edits every letter with care because handwritten words are precious, and because precision is to be valued. In many letters she or her correspondents mention the current book they are reading, and (as I did!) you may find yourself making a list of new books to read based on this one. As we join Sybil over ten years, and as details about her past and background are gradually revealed, we see Sybil start to connect with those around her, showing the magic that can happen when we simply allow others in.
This review was first published in August 2026 by Tewkesbury Direct.
