The Correspondent and Read-Alike Suggestions
I got this book thanks to Libby’s “Skip the Line” offering - otherwise, it wasn’t on my radar, so I’m glad I didn’t miss it! I’m always a bit hesitant with epistolary books and stories because the writer can too often just infodump everything the reader needs to know, but those characters writing letters should already know. It makes the writing stilted and takes me out of the belief that I'm reading real letters - after all, if I'm writing to my cousin or my friend from college, I don't need to share my entire backstory. They already know. But I've definitely read some books where the author felt the need to break a traditional novel into letter format for no real reason.
The Correspondent, however, was incredibly well done. I think just enough information was given across the letters to put the story together and give the reader space to have things click into place. I also like how the distance of everything "happening" through letters allowed the reader to know so much of a character’s thoughts but not really see them in action at all… As someone who prefers writing to speaking, I could relate to this and found it incredibly engrossing, especially how it allowed the author to handle the ending.
Though this is a full-length novel, it made me think of flash fiction because of how each letter stood alone and, put together, empowered the reader to imagine what was happening between each letter. That felt really immersive and I could absolutely believe that I stumbled upon a box of old letters and started snooping.
I think my favorite part of this reading experience was how Sybil reminded me so much of Tabitha from Tabitha, Get Up and Tabitha, Stay Up by Lee Upton. I think it's because we get Tabitha's story from notes she writes to herself and voicemails people leave her, so it feels like a different take on an epistolary novel in a way. Also, the characters are both strong older women who are so sure of themselves in many ways, yet also looking back over their life choices and wondering what might have been different. I go into Tabitha's character more in-depth in this review, if you want to check it out. I highly recommend both of those books, especially if you liked The Correspondent.
