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Virginia Evans, author of The Correspondent

Throughout her life, Sybil Van Antwerp has used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past 10, Sybil sits down to write letters --- to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter. Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has. But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life, she realizes that the letter she has been writing over the years needs to be read and that she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness.

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The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

October 2025

There are times when the buzz about a book seems to be everywhere. But in this case, it was from our readers, none of whom I knew personally. They were passionate about THE CORRESPONDENT by Virginia Evans, which came out in April. Their drumbeats about the book encouraged me to explore it. I confess that the two birds on the cover did nothing to draw me in, but reading these declarations of how good it was spurred me to read it in September.

I was going to be on the road a lot, so I decided to listen to the audiobook. I think it was a brilliant choice as it is a completely fabulous production and listening experience. Even if you have never listened to an audiobook before, this could be an easy gateway one. Each narrator reading the letters feels perfectly cast. And with the voice changes, you know exactly which character is speaking.

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