Back before the hype blew up around The Correspondent, I tried to read it in print and had to quit after a few pages: the pacing was too slow for me and the MC wasn’t interesting enough to follow along with. After it became popular, reading it became a professional obligation, I decided to try the audiobook. This is my favorite strategy for books that aren’t wowing me in print, but that Must Be Read for whatever reason.
It worked. What seemed dreary and tedious on the page sprang to life the moment Maggi-Meg Reed started narrating. Her crisp, acerbic character voice for Sibyl van Antwerp brought the character to life and had me hanging on every word.
“Correspondence” by Calsidyrose is licensed under CC BY 2.0 
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In a series of letters written by — and to — Sibyl, we learn about the trajectory of her life and the people she shares it with. She’s divorced, and has a complicated relationship with her adult children, especially Fiona, who lives in Europe and rarely visits. Sibyl is adopted and has never had any curiosity about her biological parents, but her kids do, and one of their main disagreements is that Sibyl will not use the genealogy DNA test kit they got her for Christmas. When, exasperated, she finally does, it opens a Pandora’s box of memory. Much like the OG Pandora’s box, however, there is also hope.
This is one of those stories where you find out, piece by piece and little by little, what the main plot points are. Sometimes they’re still shocking, even with all the clues. The main reveal, especially, is something so upsetting that I honestly don’t know how Sibyl lived with herself afterwards. But that, I soon realized, was the point: I, as a reader, simply couldn’t be harder on Sibyl than she had already been on herself, which allowed me to give her compassion and grace.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried at the end; it was very cathartic. I also felt very seen for reasons I can’t even begin to get into, because spoilers. This book is a journey, and if you’re willing to take it, you will learn a lot about some things you think you understand, but probably don’t.
Thankfully, in addition to being traumatized and sad, Sibyl is also funny, feisty, compassionate in her own way, and a good friend to the few people she allows in her inner circle. My favorite thing about is that when she knows better, she does, indeed, do better, in her own clumsy way.
Is it worth the hype? Absolutely. Should you listen to it? Yes, yes, you should, especially since the rest of the cast is very gifted, and has the ability to create multiple voices without sounding muddy (I was very suprised, in the end credits, about who read which characters). Listen carefully though – this isn’t one of those audio books you can have on while doing laundry, or you’ll miss something. Just close your eyes and let it wash over you and the box of tissues you will definitely need to have on standby.
