Book Review: *The Correspondent* by Virginia Evans

Finished *The Correspondent* by Virginia Evans. I **do recommend it**, though it wasn’t my favorite.

What I appreciated

**1) The writing.**

I genuinely liked Evans’ prose. It felt well matched to both the structure and the themes the novel was aiming for.

**2) The epistolary structure.**

I enjoyed the concept of telling the story through correspondence. It’s a form I’m drawn to, and I thought the book committed to it thoughtfully.

**3) The exploration of aging and grief.**

This was one of the strongest parts for me. I also appreciated how the novel explored complicated family dynamics without flattening them into easy answers.

**4) The characters.**

Even when I didn’t always like them, I found them interesting. The book populated its world with people who felt specific and real.

**5) The ambition and intricacy.**

I was impressed by how many storylines Evans included—and how complete and carefully handled many of them felt. It’s a surprisingly layered novel.

What I didn’t like as much

**1) Credibility strain with the format.**

Even though I liked the idea of correspondence as the vehicle for the story, it sometimes strained believability that such a wide-ranging narrative could be told through letters/emails alone. It felt odd that phone calls weren’t involved and that what happened face-to-face didn’t feel integral to the story.

**2) The main character was hard to like.**

There were aspects of the protagonist that had me rooting for her, and I understand that her shortcomings were designed to push themes of forgiveness—and to ultimately invite more empathy from the reader. But many of those “shortcomings” felt so consistently offensive (and cumulatively so off-putting) that I found myself resisting the book’s request for forgiveness. The challenge of empathizing with her seemed to require more compassion than it’s realistic to ask of a reader.

**3) I stayed engaged, but didn’t feel satisfied.**

The book kept my attention, but I didn’t feel like I got enough back for the energy I invested in it. Maybe I’m being a little unfair, but that was my honest takeaway.

Bottom line

On balance, I’m glad I read *The Correspondent*. I do feel like I gained something from it, and I’d recommend it—especially to readers who may have a more generous impression than I did. I liked it… I just didn’t **LOVE** it.