This book has been on the wishlist for our German book club for ages but we first had to wait until it was published as a paperback. In August 2026, we finally managed to put it on our reading list.
I have been writing letters my whole life, I've had penfriends all over the world and when I started to learn Esperanto, it got even more. So, I expected this book to be perfect for me.
I read somewhere that It takes a little while to get settled into Sybil’s life and I totally agree. I couldn't say that the story gripped me from the first page.
However, I was never such an organized letter writer as Sybil. I don't sit down every morning, I write answers to letters I received whenever I feel like I am in the mood to respond. I think the recipient gets a better answer as if I "have to" write now and then. And I have never written to an author, maybe I should do that one day.
However, I do not neglect those people around me, I try to meet them as often as I can. Sybil seems to be more a "letters only" kind of person. What would I have to tell my friends from far away if I didn't have a "real life"?
I did enjoy the book in the end but not in the way I thought I might.
We did have a nice discussion about this novel. We are all senior citizens and thought that was probably one of the reasons why we did enjoy this book. One of our members mentioned that her daughter couldn't get into it. Maybe there is something to it.
In any case, we all agreed that we needed some time to get into all the characters. And yes, there are a lot. The German had a list at the end with all of her correspondents, a little "Who's Who?". That was not included in our English version. I wonder why? As you all know, I love lists.
I found one online though @ The Book Companion
and @ SuperSummary.
And while looking for that, I discovered that a film adaptation is planned starring Jane Fonda as Sybil Van Antwerp.
Lots and lots of books get mentioned in the novel. I will list only those that I have read myself, find the rest here on Goodreads.
Austen, Jane "Pride & Prejudice" - 1813 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen)
Brontë, Emily (deutsch) "Wuthering Heights" - 1887
Du Maurier, Daphne "Rebecca" - 1938
Gabaldon, Diana "Outlander" (UK: Cross Stich) - 1991
Hanff, Helene "84 Charing Cross Road" - 1970
Ishiguro, Kazuo "The Remains of the Day" - 1989
Johnson, Adam "The Orphan Master's Son" - 2012
Joyce, James "Ulysses" - 1922
Rushdie, Salman "The Satanic Verses" - 1988
Steinbeck, John "Travels with Charley" - 1962
Woolf, Virginia "To the Lighthouse" - 1927
So, eleven of forty books. But I might get to more in future.
And a quote that I agree with 100%:
"... I like president Obama. He's a wonderful speaker, I could listen to him read the phone book."
From the back cover:
"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.
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. 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."
No comments:
Post a Comment