Preeta Chag

Pub by: Crown (April, 2025)

Rating: 5/5

“But I think of life, rather like a long road we walk in one direction.”

Quaint and beautiful.

“The Correspondent” is a book written in letters, beginning slowly, softly, creeping upon oneself and making one bask in the warmth and comfort of old times, the world of thinking, and pausing.

Sybil Van Antwerp is a 70-something woman living in Annapolis, Maryland, a retired legal professional who sits down to write a letter every day to people connected or not connected to her. Her friend and sister-in-law, Rosalie. Her children. Her brother. Her neighbour. Authors of books she has read. The University Dean to pursue her academics.

Her tale unfolds through her letters, giving us a tantalising peek into her thoughts and the events of her life. Her grief. Her guilt. Her fears. Her hopes. Her joys.

Does one want more answers in the twilight zone of their life? Or is one content? At first, Sybil does not like her children gifting her the Kindred Project to dig deeper into her roots through DNA testing… (she had been adopted). But, then a nagging curiosity gets the better of her, and she goes on to discover her sisters and the family.

So many questions are left unanswered.  

Why was she given up for adoption? Did she take on the legacy left to her by her ex-husband? In fact, the unanswered questions make the book so real and human.

Also, what is interesting is that something big comes up, like knowing she is a benefactor or the threatening email… but then the next page is another letter to someone else… making the reader wonder what will happen and why there is no immediate response date-wise too… keeping the reader hooked.

After seven novels, Virginia Evans has acquired recognition with this book. Even the book’s success, like its pace, was slow. Published in April 2025, the book hit the New York Times bestseller list five months later.

I really enjoyed reading the book. After a long time, I came across a book I wanted to return to each night to read. It is calm and serene…like a gentle stream flowing near your house, sometimes its violent waves catching you unawares, and yet the lapping of the waves imparting a calmness to the turbulence of life.

“sometimes you see in the distance some lights and it heartens you, the lone house or maybe a village and you come into the warmth of that stopover and go inside.”