“Imagine, the letters one has sent out into the world, the letters received back in turn, are like the pieces of a magnificent puzzle, or, a better metaphor, if dated, the links of a long chain, and even if those links are never put back together, which they will certainly never be, even if they remain for the rest of time dispersed across the earth like the fragile blown seeds of a dying dandelion, 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?”
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.
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’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.
CW/TW – past death of a child, fertility issues, adoption, grief, death of a pet
Dear Ms. Evans,
I love a good epistolary novel and this is a chef’s kiss of one. It is beautiful and painful. At times I wanted to shake Sybil but I also understand her a bit and know a few people like her.
It takes a little while to get settled into Sybil’s life and be able to easily follow who is writing to her and to whom she is writing but once I got a grasp on the characters, I was deeply engaged and along for the ride. These characters have flaws and scars. They’ve made mistakes, been misunderstood, have suffered from the actions of others, and all of them felt real to me. Through these letters and occasionally emails (though Sybil prefers old fashioned pen and paper correspondence) we see past, present and future.
Sybil is smart but oh, so stubborn and set in her ways at times. In the book, she writes several letters to authors (she writes to Gabaldon about Outlander! “Lots of sex!”), many of whom write back to her. In one she tells Larry McMurtry that on rereading “Lonesome Dove” (for the third time), in her old age she now sees that McMurtry had the courage to do awful things to his characters. Well, some awful things get revealed about Sybil – especially in regards to her daughter and her best friend/SIL. She has hurt people and it takes her a long time to truly realize it and deal with the consequences.
Yet at this point in my own life I’m owning – or trying at times – my own mistakes. It’s hard and often Sybil acts with defensiveness in the face of some accusations. Few people can avoid this instinctive reaction and in Sybil this can turn into somewhat self righteous lashing out. But writing her the way she’s been written took guts and I think makes her a character with depth. When she finally faces past actions and tells some secrets, the impact is all the more forceful and powerful.
I had a feeling about to whom Sybil was writing her long, unfinished letter. The revelations about this character are wrenching. And
We don’t see everything about all the threads of Sybil’s writing – that would have made the story 4 x 1000 page book epic doorstops. But there’s enough there to follow the flow of these lives. There are things that Sybil writes or does that might cause readers to flinch. She can be intolerant. I paused a time or two but kept going and was rewarded with Sybil’s eventual self reflection and character growth. She does apologize for a lot of things that her belief in black or white, cut and dried, right or wrong led her to do. But I didn’t feel that she copped out or just made a gesture to soothe troubled waters as this is definitely something I don’t think she could ever do. It’s just not in her nature.
Readers might, at times, have to grit their teeth at Sybil. Her realization of past wrongs she’s done and willingness to make amends is, at times, decades in the making. She has reasons for her feelings and personality that are partly an outcome of her adoption as a child and her fears that as a mother she won’t be good enough. Her achievement of grace is a moving thing to read. Sybil won’t be for everyone, I’ll be honest about that. Yet once I fell into her life, I was hooked. B+
~Jayne
AmazonBNKoboBook DepositoryGoogle
Related
Jayne
Another long time reader who read romance novels in her teens, then took a long break before started back again about 25 years ago. She enjoys historical romance/fiction best, likes contemporaries, action- adventure and mysteries, will read suspense if there’s no TSTL characters and is currently reading more fantasy and SciFi.
