“Subtly told and finely made,The Correspondentis a portrait of a small life expanding. Virginia Evans shows how one woman changes at a point when change had seemed impossible. That change, like this novel, turns out to be a cause for celebration.”—Ann PatchettA woman tries to heal old wounds and make sense of the world the only way she knows how—through letters—in this charming, laugh out loud debut novel about a life fully lived.“Dear Ms. Van Antwerp,There is a movie coming out this month and I saw the trailer and it made me think of you. It’s about an old woman who lives alone like a hermit. She is eccentric and rude….”Sybil Van Antwerp is a mother and grandmother, divorced, retired from a distinguished career in law, an avid gardener, and a writer of letters. 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