WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION WINNER 2026 | Emma recommends... The Correspondent - Virginia Evans

Emma says... I will admit that I was sceptical about this one, as I am of basically anything that looks a bit "too" popular or has a slightly twee looking cover. But it turns out that there are good reasons why The Correspondent has been such a word-of-mouth and then critical success because it is simply a really good and enjoyable read! A successful epistolary novel can't be an easy thing to pull off but Sybil Van Antwerp is an excellent writer of letters to a range of recipients and respondents. Through her letters, we join her reflecting on a life lived, on how life can still change and surprise even in our "winter" years, while also reckoning with life coming to an end. Funny, moving, poignant, and page-turning... Read it - you won't be sorry!

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Every morning, Sybil Van Antwerp sits down to write letters – to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to attend a class she desperately wants to take, to her favourite authors to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter. Because at seventy-three, Sybil has used her correspondence – witty and wise – to make sense of the world.

But beyond the page, she has spent the last thirty years keeping the people who love her at arms’ length... Until letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life. Now, Sybil must send the letter she has been writing for all these years - and find forgiveness within herself in order to move on.

Sybil Van Antwerp’s life of letters might not be an extraordinary one, but she also might be one of the most memorable characters you will ever read.