By Virginia Evans
Dear Readers,
Do you ever write a letter? I mean truly write one…sit down
with pen and paper, jot down your thoughts, seal an envelope, place a stamp,
and send it off through the postal service?
I do. I did. I used to love writing thank-you notes, always
including a photo from the moment we shared, hoping my words carried the weight
of my gratitude.
I love hand-written letters…both sending and receiving them.
Last week, I moved. While packing up, I found a love letter
dated June 26, 2000. Twenty-five years ago! I smiled as I read it, grateful I’d
held onto it all this time. I’ll never throw it away. I adored his words…the
way he wrote them, the penmanship, the spacing, the red ink. But mostly…I loved
his words.
Then there’s Sybil.
She’s 72 when we meet her in the novel…crotchety and
outspoken, intelligent and well-read, fiercely independent and beautifully
flawed. She’s just learned she’ll gradually lose her eyesight. She’s made some
devastating, life-altering mistakes and carries the weight of guilt. She tries
to make amends where she can, but that isn’t always possible. Like the rest of
us, she’s doing her best.
Sybil pours herself into her letters…her love, grief,
regrets, humor, and hope. Her relationships unfold through correspondence with
her brother, sister-in-law, children, old work associates, and, delightfully,
literary icons like Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Some letters she sends.
Some she doesn’t. The most haunting are those she writes to a shadowy figure
from her past…never mailed, but full of ache.
One letter to a young correspondent reflects deeply on the
immortal power of writing; others are hilariously blunt, layered with her
sharp, salty charm. Evans crafted Sybil with brusque vulnerability…a woman
brimming with opinions, keen advice, and blind spots about her own tangled
truth. Through her letters, Sybil slowly peels back the layers of her heart.
The book reads like a character study told through correspondence…a slow
unraveling of what makes Sybil who she is.
I’ll sign off just as Sybil does in letters to a beloved
friend: What are you reading?
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