This Women's Prize finalist is the only book you need in your beach bag this summer. Move over thrillers, the summer's most anticipated read is a heart-wrenching debut about the lost art of letter writing. Virginia Evans delivers a Women's Prize contender perfect for a holiday read.
A Summer Holiday Essential
This is the book that everybody will be taking away with them on their summer holiday to sit by the pool with. Mark my words. Virginia Evans' The Correspondent is a story told through letters, which made me yearn for the dying art of writing letters, of taking time to consider a response, note it down into a document which can be kept forever.
This form is not new, it spans centuries - from Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897) to 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (1970). Society has moved from letter writing to phone-calls to text messages to emails to direct messages sent through social media apps.
An Astonishing Debut
The Correspondent is an astonishing work of fiction - by a debut novelist, no less - that forces the reader to reconsider their relationship with the world. In a cultural moment where the speed of messaging - from marketing to news - is key, this book is a tonic. It is a reminder to consider what marks on the world we will leave behind.
The Protagonist: Sybil Van Antwerp
The protagonist Sybil Van Antwerp is a pensioner with a penchant for correspondence. She voraciously writes letters to friends, family, writers - whoever pops into her mind. A retired legal professional who spent her time committed to her job instead of family life, she is now reckoning with her decisions, all of those little moments which culminate into a life.
In a letter she writes to real-life author Ann Pratchett about her real-life novel States of Wonder, Sybil says: "It was wonderful to read such a complex woman of her vintage, bold with her intelligence and dignity as well as her errors, and the layers upon layers of her." In a beautiful synchronicity, Pratchett has endorsed The Correspondent, praising the book as a "cause for celebration".
A Life-Affirming Read
There is a stunning quote early in the book, which sums up the joy in reading this book: "It was wonderful to read such a complex woman of her vintage, bold with her intelligence and dignity as well as her errors, and the layers upon layers of her." The Correspondent is warm, bold, and life-affirming. It is a book that I will press into the hands of friends and family alike - as well as impressing on you, readers!
Author Background
Evans, who is from the United States, studied in Trinity College, Dublin, under tutors such as Claire Keegan, author of Small Things Like These. Keegan's influence on the work is evident in The Correspondent's sharp observations that erupt into an emotional reckoning. Yet Keegan's shadow falls lightly, as these traces do not constrict the originality; Evans' sensibility is shaped, but not overshadowed, by this tutelage.
The international bestseller will be released in paperback in June. I have no doubt it will go hot from the press straight into suitcases jetting to beaches and pool-sides.
