I have heard so many good things about this epistolary novel and all of it was well deserved. The person corresponding is Sybil Van Antwerp, a septuagenarian that has lived a very full and dramatic life. She is a divorcee, sister, mother, friend, lawyer (retired)-and I felt like, initially, I had met a ton of women like her. She came across as privileged with an opinion on EVERYTHING that she would share bluntly no matter whether you asked for it or not. However, I grew to be really fond of her because she was just so....human? Flawed? Trying her best and yet failing? Relatable for sure. Sybil literally word vomits everything about her life, all of her opinions and her observations, and secrets to whoever she comes across (friends, famous authors, customer service reps - everyone is fair game).
We learn that she is slowly going blind - which is scary and devastating for her - and she's also getting anonymous letters that are threatening and stalker-ish. Sybil, as a result, is forced to reflect upon a very, very tough and shameful part of her past. At the same time, she's dealing with a rift with her daughter that is threatening to become permanent.
There were a lot of things that I adored about this book, but the thing I adored the most was Sybil's (and her friends) ending letters with discussion about what they're reading. Made me add things to my TBR list to be frank. I loved that this book seemed to excel in conveying that life and all of its calamities are in shades of grey. There is very little that is black and white. I also really enjoyed the subtleties in how things unfolded. Evans was masterful in this. I, as a reader, had to really pay attention to figure out what was going on and I am fully intending to read it a second time because I'm fairly certain that I missed stuff the first go around (and I'll do it gladly, this book was that good). It was absolutely delightful to see Sybil begin to open up and confront the painful memories of her past. She became courageous over the course of the novel, confronting not only past painful issues but current ones too.
Please, drop what you're doing and go get this novel. It was wonderful.
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