The Correspondent: A Novel

The Correspondent: A Novel by Virginia Evans

Sybil Van Antwerp is a retired womens loves to communicate by writing letters. This novel is a collection of letters she was written and the responses she has received. She had previously worked as an a attorney. During that time, as a woman, she thought it best to continue clerking for a judge for most of her career. Early in the novel, the judge dies and the woman rekindles some relationships. One includes the son of a man that she did not want to show mercy to, despite the man's spouse's appeals. Sybil had just suffered the death of one of her children and was not in a condition to show mercy. (Even worse, the child died in a diving accident where she was present but not paying attention.) After seeing a newspaper article about Sybil, the man wrote some seemingly anonymous negative messages to her and even came to her her house and cut off her flowers. She had guessed who he was, and wrote a letter to him in. They shared stories and she apologized and they became friends.

There are many other anecdotes where she turned seemingly negative communications to positive. Sometimes this would involve switching communication means. (For example, she had some negative letters with the new head of the University English Department. However, they hit it off well after meeting in person.) The book falls in the "feel good" genre. Even the negative things end up turning out good. While the letters are chronological, we learn a lot about her past in the communications she shares. She has struggles with relationship with her children, as well as with various senior suitors. Her eyesight is gradually fading away. The final letters are shorter and partially filled by her new partner. (He had lived nearby and they gradually built up a strong relationship.) Her death feels somewhat sudden, but it fits well in the life of a now blind woman that we know only by her letters.