Literary Fiction · Free kit
The Correspondent
An epistolary novel of a life told in letters. From 2012 to 2022, retired lawyer Sybil Van Antwerp writes from her Annapolis desk — to her brother Felix, her best friend Rosalie, her adult children Bruce and Fiona, authors she admires, and one person who never receives what she writes. As her eyesight fails and old grief over her son Gilbert resurfaces, correspondence becomes the only map she trusts of who she has been.
“Imagine, the letters one has sent out into the world, the letters received back in turn, are like the pieces of a magnificent puzzle. . . . Isn’t there something wonderful in that, to think that a story of one’s life is preserved in some way, that this very letter may one day mean something, even if it is a very small thing, to someone?”
Complete free book club kit
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Plan your meeting
The Correspondent Hosting Guide
A free, printable-minded plan for hosting The Correspondent.
Invite hook
“What if the story of your life was already scattered in other people’s drawers?”
The question you’re arguing about: If someone assembled every letter you’d ever sent, would they meet the real you — or your best editor?
Shopping list
- □Nice paper / notecards and pens at each seat (on-theme favors)
- □Tea, coffee, and something simple and old-fashioned (shortbread, lemon loaf)
- □A small vase / quiet table styling — desk energy, not party clutter
- □Printed bingo cards and trivia slips
- □Optional: stamps as place-card holders
- □A bowl for anonymous “unsent lines” guests can drop if they want
Day-of timeline
- 0–10 minWelcome + icebreakers (letter habits)
- 10–25 minTrivia warm-up
- 25–55 minMain discussion (warm-ups → debates → deep dives)
- 55–70 minWould You Rather or a speed debate
- 70–80 minBingo, ratings, next-book vote
Surprise touch
Give everyone a blank notecard and two minutes to write one sentence they would want preserved from their own life — then offer an optional share. It lands the puzzle-piece quote without forcing tears.
Wrap-up
- □Optional group photo with notecards visible (no pressure to show what they wrote)
- □One-word rating round + favorite correspondent in the book
- □Vote on next month’s book