Dear Reader,

This April marks the fourth year for Joplin Reads Together, Joplin Public Library’s community read designed for adults. A month-long initiative, Joplin Reads Together aims to provide the community with a shared reading experience, community connection, a promotion of literacy, and programming by way of selecting one novel, inviting the author to visit the library, and hosting programs inspired by that novel. This April the library will host 11 programs inspired by the selected novel, including a presentation and book signing by the author. We couldn’t pull it off without the support from our three Joplin Reads Together Community Partners: Friends of the Joplin Public Library, Post Art Library, and MSSU Spiva Library. I appreciate their contribution and excitement each year! Just as I appreciate the community members that have joined in Joplin Reads Together each year, and the first-timers that join! It is always a joy to see our hope come to life: community members that might otherwise never cross paths excitedly coming together over a shared interest. I’ve been fortunate enough to write about the selected novel in my book reviews for the last three years and I’m excited to once again share about the selected title for 2026: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. 

Published in 2025, The Correspondent is Evans’s debut novel. One reason I am looking forward to meeting Evans in April is she has said she wrote and attempted to get published for years before The Correspondent was finally swept up. What an exciting time this must be for her, as not only did she find her success in getting her writing published, but her book has also become a word-of-mouth hit. It now sits on the New York Times bestseller list and has gained additional acknowledgements such as being longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the Andrew Carnegie Medal, as well as being named a Best Book of the Year by: NPR, The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Elle, Christian Science Monitor, and She Reads.

A character driven plot, The Correspondent is an epistolary novel (composed entirely of letters and emails) that focuses on main character Sybil. Sybil is a septuagenarian with the routine of sitting down almost daily to read and write letters or emails to her friends, family, and even people she does not know, like authors about their latest books, a university president, and a DNA testing facility. By way of these letters the reader learns about Sybil and her life piece by piece, as well as the secondary characters that are in her life. While I think Sybil could be the type of character that some readers could be slow to like or have mixed feelings about, part of the magic of this book for me was how real she felt, how interestingly Evans revealed her to the reader a little at a time. I say that some readers might have mixed feelings about Sybil because she can be brash and reactionary in her feelings at times. In a way, some parts of Sybil mirror uglier parts of people we don’t always want to look at closely, and I think that is what makes Sybil such a well-crafted character. Don’t get me wrong, while I say Sybil is brash, that exterior covers a caring, loving core; Sybil is just the type of person that doesn’t always know how to express those feelings. As the novel continues Sybil shifts and grows, showing that no matter our age we can always learn and grow within ourselves. As Evans develops Sybil’s character we learn to understand why she approaches life the way she does. The novel spans several years of Sybil’s life, taking the reader along her everyday interactions and relationships by way of her correspondence. 

This novel carries themes of family (both found and biological), aging, relationships, grief, and the continued struggle and growth of loving yourself and others while carrying grief. The epistolary format makes the book really consumable, and if you enjoy audiobooks it has a really great one. The secondary characters shine and are really enjoyable to read; many of the letters in the novel are from them and not just Sybil. I have always enjoyed an epistolary novel, something about the format seems to bring the characters closer, and this one was no exception for me. If you pick up this book, consider meeting the author when she visits on April 28th and check out the other Joplin Reads Together programming in April (whether you read the novel or not, all adults are welcome!).  

Sincerely,

Sarah

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Review by Sarah Turner-Hill, Adult Programming Coordinator