新人作家Virginia Evans，初試啼聲便獲2026女性小說獎的真摯作品。
故事以一封封往返信件，串起73歲的Sybil Van Antwerp的一生。透過她收到、以及提筆寫下卻從未寄出的信件，逐步揭開她的童年、婚姻、家庭、友情，以及她那些想成為卻終究未能成為的自己。
Sybil性格執拗謹慎，卻也正直善良，一再因自己的執念錯失珍貴的人際關係。身為離婚的退休律師，同時也是母親與祖母的她晚年獨居，在她遺憾與善意交織而成的生命軌跡裡，有青春的狂放傲慢以及經歲月沉澱後的智慧。作者以溫柔深刻的筆觸，描繪一位女性完整的、平凡與奇蹟並存的人生，同時細膩探討文學的慰藉、書信跨越時空的連結、創傷、失落與救贖，隨著故事開展，Sybil重新面對過往的傷痛與遺憾，學會寬恕他人，也寬恕自己，在人生的冬季，迎來意想不到的重生。
WINNER OF THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION • LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE AND THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Elle, Christian Science Monitor, She Reads
“Imagine, the letters one has sent out into the world, the letters received back in turn, are like the pieces of a magnificent puzzle. . . . Isn’t there something wonderful in that, to think that a story of one’s life is preserved in some way, that this very letter may one day mean something, even if it is a very small thing, to someone?”
Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, The Correspondent is a gem of a novel about the power of finding solace in literature and connection with people we might never meet in person. It is about the hubris of youth and the wisdom of old age, and the mistakes and acts of kindness that occur during a lifetime.
Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, 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—a mother, grandmother, wife, divorcee, distinguished lawyer, she has lived a very full life. 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.
Sybil Van Antwerp’s life of letters might be “a very small thing,” but she also might be one of the most memorable characters you will ever read.
