It took American novelist Virginia Evans seven failed novels before landing with one that hit. But hit it certainly did. Evans’ debut epistolary novel The Correspondent is currently on its 36th week on the New York Times bestseller list and won the coveted 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction. Since publication in late April of 2025, readers have not been able to get enough of the touching story.
Currently, on the community platform for readers, Goodreads, The Correspondent is the fourth “Most Read Book of 2026,” just behind Atmosphere, Project Hail Mary, and The Housemaid. Readers have shelved the novel over 700,000 times this year alone.
The Correspondent has been reviewed on the Goodreads platform over 90,000 times since its debut last year.
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The Correspondentis a novel told through letters between protagonist Sybil Van Antwerp and those around her. Sybil, a retired lawyer with declining vision, has always used letters to connect with others and make sense of the world around her. She writes to anyone—her family members, celebrities, even the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to. But when letters involving her past begin to resurface, Sybil must confront painful memories and face the realities of forgiveness, reconciliation, and moving through life.
Critical acclaim for The Correspondent has been rampant over the last year, with novelist Anne Patchett calling it “really beautiful,” “a cause for celebration,” and named it her top book of the summer in 2025. The Timescalled the book “a joy to read” and Kirkus Reviewswrote it was both “thoughtful” and “laugh out loud funny.”
In March of 2026 it was announced that Lionsgate secured the rights for a film adaptation of the book, with Jane Fonda attached to star. Evas will produce the movie alonside Fonda.
The Correspondent is out now and available wherever books are sold.
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