The Correspondent

WINNER OF THE WOMENS PRIZE FOR FICTION 2026
A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
OVER TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE
A TIMESBOOK OF THE YEAR 2025
AN IRISH TIMES BESTSELLER
A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK

A warm, funny gem of a novel
LAURA HACKETT, THE TIMES

Masterful . . . I was delighted and moved
NEW YORK TIMES

I cant praise it enough. Its an absolute triumph
CLARE CHAMBERS

What a novel! Tender, dry, sharp...devastating, but still feel good.
PANDORA SYKES

Tremendous
FREDRIK BACKMAN

Shows us what a glorious thing growing older can be
FLORENCE KNAPP

The years breakout novel no one saw coming
WALL STREET JOURNAL

–
Sybil Van Antwerp is seventy-three, slowly losing her sight and always writing letters . . .

To her children. Her favourite authors. Her ex-sister-in-law. The journalist poking into her past.
Her doctor. Suitors. Kindly neighbours. The infuriating gardening club.

All receive Sybil’s witty, wise correspondence, rich with everyday concerns.

But there is one letter that she has never sent. It concerns the darkest period of her life. To post it, Sybil must find forgiveness within herself.

The hardest letter to write is the one you’d never dare to send.