Book Notes: The Correspondent
Only a little way in to reading The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans, I thought to myself, "oh that’s good." A few pages later I thought it again. Then I wished I had a pencil to underline a particularly good sentence. And I wanted some page tabs to mark a beautiful passage on the nature of aging. But instead, I just kept reading.
Sybil Van Antwerp is in her 70's, lives alone in Annapolis, Maryland, and routinely sits down at her desk for a few hours to write letters to the various people that intersect with her life. She writes to her brother in France, a childhood friend, authors she admires, thank you notes to her neighbor, and emails to the dean of English at the local college asking permission to audit classes. The pages of this book are filled with Sybil's correspondence, and some of the replies. Sybil is articulate and often unvarnished in sharing her thoughts, the events of her day and how she feels about them. These aren’t duty letters, they’re a genuine portal for connection. One of Sybil’s longest standing correspondents is her friend, Rosalie. At the close of each letter, Sybil tells Rosalie what she’s reading and asks, “what are you reading?” This exchange, a long-standing part of their decades-long friendship, absolutely charmed me.
It’s a lovely little puzzle, to read Sybil's letters and begin to piece together a picture of Sybil Van Antwerp as a complete person, the life she's currently living, the events from her past that have shaped her. With some people she shares far more than she does with others, and seeing the contrast side by side clued me in to the nature of their relationship. Being able to read some of the replies gave me distance from seeing only Sybil's point of view. No one in this book has had an easy time of life, and yet they all, in their various ways, are buoyed by their connections to each other via the medium of the written word. The Correspondent shows how reaching out, expressing interest or gratitude or curiosity in another person's life gives that person a sense of being seen and of value. Caring for another and trying to do what we can for each other is never a waste of time.
If this inspires you to write a letter to someone, here is Sybil's advice:
“Sometimes, Caroline, the easiest inroad is to begin with a thank you, for a gift or a kindness or a letter, you know, and then take it from there. Answer every question they’ve asked, and ask your own, and you will have created a never-ending circuit of curiosity and learning."
If you like epistolary novels, books with older protagonists and wise writing, this is the book for you!
— Lori