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The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

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Hardcover:

Winner of the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction, this epistolary debut follows a retired lawyer whose letters to friends, family, and literary heroes hold the story of a life she's finally ready to reckon with.

Ann Patchett calls it "a cause for celebration," and The New York Times calls it "quietly dazzling."

Sybil Van Antwerp is a sharp-tongued, septuagenarian retired lawyer who has spent her life writing letters—to her children, her oldest friends, and even to authors she admires.

When correspondence from her past resurfaces, Sybil is forced to confront a painful chapter she's spent decades avoiding.

Told entirely through letters, the novel is funny, wise, and quietly devastating as Sybil realizes she must offer forgiveness before she can move forward.

It's a tribute to the power of connection—and to what it means to look back on a full life with clear eyes.

Winner of the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction, this epistolary debut follows a retired lawyer whose letters to friends, family, and literary heroes hold the story of a life she's finally ready to reckon with.

Ann Patchett calls it "a cause for celebration," and The New York Times calls it "quietly dazzling."

Sybil Van Antwerp is a sharp-tongued, septuagenarian retired lawyer who has spent her life writing letters—to her children, her oldest friends, and even to authors she admires.

When correspondence from her past resurfaces, Sybil is forced to confront a painful chapter she's spent decades avoiding.

Told entirely through letters, the novel is funny, wise, and quietly devastating as Sybil realizes she must offer forgiveness before she can move forward.

It's a tribute to the power of connection—and to what it means to look back on a full life with clear eyes.

  • Publisher: Crown

    Title: The Correspondent

    Author: Virginia Evans

    On Sale Date: April 29, 2025

    ISBN 13: 9780593798430

    ISBN 10: 0593798430

    Format: Hardcover

    Retail Price: $28.00

    BISAC: Fiction / Women's Fiction

    Page Count: 304

    Dimensions: 6-1/8 x 9-1/8 in

  • Virginia Evans holds a bachelor's degree in English literature from James Madison University and a master's of philosophy in creative writing from Trinity College Dublin. She lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with her husband, two children, and her Red Labrador, Brigid. The Correspondent, her debut novel, won the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction.

  • Readers are calling it witty, moving, and unforgettable.

    • Readers describe The Correspondent as the most original narrative structure they've read in years.

    • Fans say Sybil is one of the sharpest, funniest narrators in recent fiction.

    • Reviewers highlight the novel's slow-build emotional payoff as its greatest strength.

    • Book clubs praise it as a rare novel that's both a page-turner and a tearjerker.

This book is for you if

  • You love novels told through letters, diaries, or other unconventional formats.

  • You want a heroine who's whip-smart, funny, and refreshingly unsentimental.

  • You're drawn to stories about reckoning with the past to move forward.

  • You appreciate a book that's being talked about as a future book-club classic.

  • You want to read the Women's Prize for Fiction winner everyone's discussing.

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