Please join us for a Q&A with Virginia Evans, author of The Correspondent.
Please join me in welcoming Virginia Evans to our forum. Her epistolary novel, The Correspondent, was chosen by BookBrowse members as their top novel for 2025, winning this year’s BookBrowse Best Fiction award.
Virginia is from the east coast of the United States. She attended James Madison University for her bachelor’s in English literature, as well as Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, for her master’s of philosophy in creative writing. Now she lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with her husband, two children, and her Red Labrador, Brigid. The Correspondent is her first published novel.
Please use this space to ask Virginia questions about her work. As a reminder, to reply to an existing comment, click the grey Reply on the right side under the comment. To ask a new question, click the blue Reply button a little lower down.
Virginia, thanks for being here! Please tell our group a little about yourself.
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Hi everyone! I’m thrilled to be here, coming to you from Winston Salem, NC. It’s quite cold today! I’m delighted to be in conversation with you all, and will try to answer your questions to my best ability!
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Good morning, Virginia! Congratulations on the success of The Correspondent. I started hearing about it from our members soon after it published last April. Then, when we sent out our poll regarding our members’ favorite books of the year, it came back as their overwhelming choice for best novel. And, of course, we’re not alone; the book has appeared on many Best Of lists over the past few months.
When did you start to suspect that The Correspondent would be such a smash hit, and why do you think it resonated so much with readers?
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I’m reading The Correspondent right now and enjoying it! My question is: Did you conceive of it as an epistolary novel from the beginning, or did that structure emerge after the first (or later) draft? To expand on that, how did this novel develop over time from initial idea to published book? Thanks!
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Thank you, Virginia, for engaging with your readers. Epistolary novels are among my favorites and I wondered if you were a fan before writing The Correspondent. If not, did you read any for inspiration and if so, which title inspired you the most? Which also leads me to ask, was that your favorite of the genre?
Thank you!
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Hi Virginia,
First, I would like to say I loved your book! I have read 80 books this year (AND as an AP Language and AP Lit teacher who reads a million essays a weeks and little time to read anything elseI feel it is one of my favorites!
I’m wondering if you have favorite novels of your own that were published this year?
Thanks!
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Hi Virginia,
I absolutely loved your book and I have been giving it to friends for Christmas. I think back on other books from the past that I love that were also epistolary novels. (Griffin & Sabine, Ella Minnow Pea for example). Why do you think people love these novels told through letters so much? Do they somehow create a sense of intimacy with the reader?
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As many others, I too loved The Correspondent. What challenges and opportunities did the epistolary form present in terms of pacing and character development?
What’s the most memorable letter you’ve ever received — and did it influence the book in any way?
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I guess it started to feel like it was gaining momentum sometime in the summer! The moment, in my mind, was when Ann Patchett talked about it on PBS Newshour…
I think the format draws people in–the short letters are digestible, and it’s easy to read ‘just one more.’ I also think the material of the story is fairly universal. Normal people, grief, family, curiosity, love, shame, broken relationship, repairing relationships.
It was always letters! Letters was my way into this book… everything else came after.
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I love any book with a unique writing style, or ‘narrative vehicle,’ as I like to think of it. Some of my favorites are 84, CHARING CROSS RD, THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY, THE COLOR PURPLE… others (not epistolary, but unique vehicles) would be EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE, THE FLAT SHARE, WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE…
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A few of my best reads this year (not sure exactly when things were published) were BIRNAM WOOD, THE MINISTRY OF TIME, WHALE FALL, THE LAND IN WINTER
I think the format really lends itself to easy readability. Digestible!
I thought the format gave space and freedom for the story to expand in every and any way, though you are also limited to first person letters, ie. no dialogue, explanation of setting, etc. It was fun! Ann Patchett and I have exchanged letters for years, and that is very special to me.
I thought your inclusion of author letters was a brilliant touch. How did you start a correspondence with Ann Patchett? Are there other authors that you’ve written to over the years?
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Your depiction of Sybil reflects the ups and downs many of us experience as we age. Did you have an inspiration for the character?
I’m not sure if BookBrowse reflects your typical reader, but I know that a lot of us here are older women. I’m wondering if that’s one reason the book hit home for many. Your descriptions of an aging woman were absolutely dead on, so many of us could relate. That, or we know a Sybil ourselves.
I just wrote to her! She wrote back. She’s so lovely. I have written others, some reply and some don’t. It’s fun enough just to write; I don’t mind when I don’t hear back.
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I guess I have probably just always loved my relationships with women older than me. I ask a lot of questions and pay attention to the answers. When I went to write Sybil, she came to me very easily. It was like I knew her!
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Did she change or evolve in any unexpected ways as you wrote her?
I also think it’s interesting that you chose to start the book on her 73rd birthday. What made you choose that age for the character?