Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Correspondent’ by Virginia Evans 

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.

Are you a letter writer? Are you looking for a book about second chances that feels life-affirming? Cathy Fiebach of Main Point Books in Wayne, Pa., suggests you read the novel “The Correspondent” by Virginia Evans. 

Our protagonist, Sybil Van Antwerp, is a letter writer. She emails when necessary, but mostly she puts pen to paper to connect with family and strangers alike.

She lets famous writers know what she thinks about their books, and she lets the local public utilities know when they could be doing better. In this epistolary novel, the world unfolds both through Sybil’s writing and through the responses she receives.

As with life, sometimes these notes lead in surprising directions. For example, Fiebach says, Sybil’s notes of complaint to a customer service person turn into friendship and a chance for Sybil to be of help. 

Fiebach says, "It's a story of loss and love and friendship, second chances. It's about an older woman, and her life sort of opening up instead of closing down.

“So as she's writing her letters, she's discovering things about herself, and she's sort of discovering more possibilities and more people. [She’s discovering] some of the things that she could do differently, she's apologizing to people, and they're welcoming her back into their lives. I just found it a very warm and life-affirming book.”