Review: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
April Book of the Month: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Book Club Review (Apr 2026)
Every year we pick twelve Book of the Month titles, and I try to make sure all twelve authors join us, whether that's in person or online. It doesn't always happen, but most months it does, and Virginia Evans' visit was one of the real highlights of the year. There is something genuinely special about choosing a book, watching the group fall completely in love with it, meeting the person who wrote it, and then watching their career take off in the months that follow. With The Correspondent, that journey has been extraordinary to watch from the sidelines, culminating in all of us tuning in live to watch Virginia collect the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction, a result that felt thoroughly, properly deserved.
Told entirely through letters and the occasional email, The Correspondent could so easily have felt like a gimmick in less skilled hands. In Virginia's, it became something quietly extraordinary, and I knew the moment I finished it that our members would have plenty to say.
The novel follows Sybil Van Antwerp, a sharp, occasionally prickly retired lawyer in her seventies, as she sits down most mornings to write to the people who have shaped her life: her children, her oldest friend, her brother, a handful of well known authors, and one recipient she writes to again and again in letters that are never actually posted. Spanning a decade of correspondence, the story slowly unpicks old regrets, a long held adoption secret and a grief she has carried quietly for years, all without a single line of conventional dialogue.
Our members scored it an average of 4.6 out of 5, and the format was easily the biggest talking point. Several described it as unusual but brilliantly effective, the sort of book that's easy to pick up for ten minutes and then almost impossible to put down again. One member said it left her inspired to start writing more letters of her own, which feels like exactly the response Virginia would have hoped for.
Underneath the charm of the letters sits real emotional weight. Several members were moved by how thoughtfully the novel handles grief and the loss of a child, and the way that loss continues to shape a family long after the event itself. Sybil herself was singled out as wonderfully drawn, with more than one member calling this their favourite read of 2026 so far. A couple of readers felt the pace eased off slightly in the middle, though it did little to dent their overall enjoyment.
The Correspondent is Virginia Evans' debut novel, written after seven earlier manuscripts that never found a publisher. She studied English literature at James Madison University before moving to Dublin for a Master's in creative writing at Trinity College, where this book began to take shape during lockdown. It has since topped the New York Times bestseller list and made her only the seventh debut novelist ever to win the Women's Prize for Fiction.
A beautifully crafted, quietly moving read, and a brilliant reminder of what an old fashioned letter can still do.
Member ratings collected via survey.
Rating: ⭐ 4.6 / 5