epistolary enlightenment

Have you read the sleeper hit, The Correspondent by Virginia Evans? If not, get thee to your favorite bookstore or audiobook platform ASAP. We have so much to talk about!

At the center of the story, our main character Sybil Van Antwerp is living in a state of unresolved grief and disappointment. Through letters and emails, both written and received, we learn of a tragedy that occurred decades earlier. One that set in motion a series of events that shaped not only Sybil’s life, but those lives intertwined with hers.

This novel is so engrossing that once begun, I challenge anyone to put it aside for more than a few hours. It has the all the hallmarks of a thoroughly satisfying read: tension, emotion, humanity, sensual detail, and at its core, a puzzle that enrolls the reader from page one. Since I read for work, I chose the audiobook version (eye strain is real you know). The narrators are fantastic and added to my immersive experience—each character, presented through some form of epistolary narrative, lends a unique voice to an intricate dance, and in so doing, leads the reader closer to our dear Sybil and her central dilemma.

I shan’t be giving anything away, but The Correspondent is a master class in storytelling.

But in one of those intermingling life and art things—an odd development. Today. Christmas Day a letter arrived. Not one I was expecting.