2026 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction (longlist)
2026 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award (longlist)
2026 Libby Award for Debut Author of the Year (nominee)
2026 Women's Prize For Fiction
WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2026
A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
OVER TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE
A TIMESBOOK OF THE YEAR 2025
AN IRISH TIMES BESTSELLER
A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK
'A warm, funny gem of a novel'
LAURA HACKETT, THE TIMES
'Masterful . . . I was delighted and moved'
NEW YORK TIMES
'I can't praise it enough. It's an absolute triumph'
CLARE CHAMBERS
'What a novel! Tender, dry, sharp...devastating, but still feel good.'
PANDORA SYKES
'Tremendous'
FREDRIK BACKMAN
'Shows us what a glorious thing growing older can be'
FLORENCE KNAPP
'The year's breakout novel no one saw coming'
WALL STREET JOURNAL
–
Sybil Van Antwerp is seventy-three, slowly losing her sight and always writing letters . . .
To her children. Her favourite authors. Her ex-sister-in-law. The journalist poking into her past.
Her doctor. Suitors. Kindly neighbours. The infuriating gardening club.
All receive Sybil’s witty, wise correspondence, rich with everyday concerns.
But there is one letter that she has never sent. It concerns the darkest period of her life. To post it, Sybil must find forgiveness within herself.
The hardest letter to write is the one you’d never dare to send.
Genre: General Fiction
A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
OVER TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE
A TIMESBOOK OF THE YEAR 2025
AN IRISH TIMES BESTSELLER
A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK
'A warm, funny gem of a novel'
LAURA HACKETT, THE TIMES
'Masterful . . . I was delighted and moved'
NEW YORK TIMES
'I can't praise it enough. It's an absolute triumph'
CLARE CHAMBERS
'What a novel! Tender, dry, sharp...devastating, but still feel good.'
PANDORA SYKES
'Tremendous'
FREDRIK BACKMAN
'Shows us what a glorious thing growing older can be'
FLORENCE KNAPP
'The year's breakout novel no one saw coming'
WALL STREET JOURNAL
–
Sybil Van Antwerp is seventy-three, slowly losing her sight and always writing letters . . .
To her children. Her favourite authors. Her ex-sister-in-law. The journalist poking into her past.
Her doctor. Suitors. Kindly neighbours. The infuriating gardening club.
All receive Sybil’s witty, wise correspondence, rich with everyday concerns.
But there is one letter that she has never sent. It concerns the darkest period of her life. To post it, Sybil must find forgiveness within herself.
The hardest letter to write is the one you’d never dare to send.
Genre: General Fiction
Praise for this book
"An absolute delight from start to finish, this novel is subtle, moving, wise and intelligent. I devoured it and will be reading everything Virginia Evans writes from now on. In the meantime, I'll be recommending The Correspondent to anyone who'll listen." - Lucy Atkins
"A witty, tenderly rendered story of a life, in all its fragments and knots, and ultimately a beautiful meditation on the lost art of communication. I can't imagine anyone with a soul not loving it." - Lauren Bravo
"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 is also properly funny. It's an absolute triumph." - Clare Chambers
"The Correspondent is the rarest of debuts with not a misplaced word, or a beat missed. Moving, funny and exquisite, it is a masterpiece in human frailty." - Anne Griffin
"Open-hearted with some, a hedgehog curled tight in a ball with others, I cried more than once as I witnessed this brilliant woman come to understand herself more deeply and risk lowering her defences. Both serious and uplifting, in The Correspondent, Virginia Evans shows us what a glorious thing growing older can be." - Florence Knapp
"I was wowed by this deliciously brilliant book! 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. Author friends - please forgive me for proclaiming The Correspondent my new favorite book." - Elinor Lipman
"I finished this wonderful, wonderful book in tears, and had to take a moment to pull myself together.It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you reflect, as all the best novels do. Read it, read it, read it! Then buy it for your family, your friends, your people." - Fran Littlewood
"What a lovely novel . . . I fell in love with the eloquent, stubborn Sybil, such a wonderful character." - Margot Livesey
"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 superbly talented Virginia Evans has written a novel of connection and daring . . . The circus of beautifully drawn characters, who receive and respond to Sybil's letters are vibrant and rich . . . The letters are so deliciously crafted, Sybil's life itself becomes a work of art." - Adriana Trigiani
"A witty, tenderly rendered story of a life, in all its fragments and knots, and ultimately a beautiful meditation on the lost art of communication. I can't imagine anyone with a soul not loving it." - Lauren Bravo
"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 is also properly funny. It's an absolute triumph." - Clare Chambers
"The Correspondent is the rarest of debuts with not a misplaced word, or a beat missed. Moving, funny and exquisite, it is a masterpiece in human frailty." - Anne Griffin
"Open-hearted with some, a hedgehog curled tight in a ball with others, I cried more than once as I witnessed this brilliant woman come to understand herself more deeply and risk lowering her defences. Both serious and uplifting, in The Correspondent, Virginia Evans shows us what a glorious thing growing older can be." - Florence Knapp
"I was wowed by this deliciously brilliant book! 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. Author friends - please forgive me for proclaiming The Correspondent my new favorite book." - Elinor Lipman
"I finished this wonderful, wonderful book in tears, and had to take a moment to pull myself together.It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you reflect, as all the best novels do. Read it, read it, read it! Then buy it for your family, your friends, your people." - Fran Littlewood
"What a lovely novel . . . I fell in love with the eloquent, stubborn Sybil, such a wonderful character." - Margot Livesey
"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 superbly talented Virginia Evans has written a novel of connection and daring . . . The circus of beautifully drawn characters, who receive and respond to Sybil's letters are vibrant and rich . . . The letters are so deliciously crafted, Sybil's life itself becomes a work of art." - Adriana Trigiani
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Used availability for Virginia Evans's The Correspondent