The Correspondent - Virginia Evans

Description

84 Charing Cross Road meets A Man Called Ove in this heartwarming, witty story about the life of an extraordinary woman, told through her letters.

In her letters to family and friends we come to know the life of Sybil Van Antwerp- stubborn, cantankerous, opinionated, always steadfast in her belief in the power of the written word.

But as the clock begins to tick for Sybil, the need for a few post-scripts to the life she's led becomes apparent. Fixing her difficult relationship with her children. Taking a final chance at romance. Atoning for an old legal case which has come back to haunt her. And finally, reckoning with a devastating loss that she has spent the last thirty years holding close to her chest.

Review

I honestly can’t remember the last time I loved a book this much. I’ve read it at every opportunity over the past couple of days and have been genuinely reluctant to put it down, I couldn’t wait to pick it up again.

The story of Sybil, told through her letters, might not sound like the most exciting premise, but it was absolutely wonderful. I loved all the different people she wrote to, the letters they sent back, and the way her story gradually unfolds through this collection of correspondence. There was something so intimate and absorbing about it.

At one point, someone in the book compares Sybil to Helen Hanff, and that really struck a chord with me because I love Helen Hanff’s books too. I also think there’s a little bit of Olive Kitteridge about Sybil who is another another character I can’t get enough of. Perhaps that’s part of the reason I found her so utterly compelling.

I loved this book and would happily have carried on reading Sybil’s letters for many more pages.

Thanks to my local library for lending me this book. I am giving it 5 out of 5 stars.