Buxton Books is excited to welcome author Virginia Evans to the bookstore for an event honoring her debut novel, The Correspondent. She’ll be in conversation with Charleston-based artist, Blakely Little. Please email rsvp@buxtonbooks.com to reserve your spot!
Please join us in welcoming author Virginia Evans to the bookstore for a discussion of her debut novel, The Correspondent. This fantastic new book, billed by Kirkus Reviews as “an affecting portrait of a prickly woman,” is perfect for fans of Hello Beautiful, Remarkably Bright Creatures, and Olive Kitteridge.
Virginia will be in conversation with Charleston-based artist and personal friend Blakely Little. Together, they will discuss creative process and the inspiration behind and writing of The Correspondent. Stick around after the program to continue the conversation, have a glass of wine (or other refreshment), and get a signed and personalized copy of the book.
Novelist Ann Patchett says The Correspondent is a “cause for celebration” and we absolutely agree! Please email rsvp@buxtonbooks.com to let us know you are coming. We’d love to save you a seat!
About The Correspondent:
“Subtly told and finely made, The Correspondent is a portrait of a small life expanding. Virginia Evans shows how one woman changes at a point when change had seemed impossible. That change, like this novel, turns out to be a cause for celebration.”—Ann Patchett
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • LIBRARYREADS APRIL PICK • NAMED A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING (UK) MOST ANTICIPATED DEBUT
“Imagine, the letters one has sent out into the world, the letters received back in turn, are like the pieces of a magnificent puzzle, or, a better metaphor, if dated, the links of a long chain, and even if those links are never put back together, which they will certainly never be, even if they remain for the rest of time dispersed across the earth like the fragile blown seeds of a dying dandelion, 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?”
Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.
Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has—a mother, grandmother, wife, divorcee, distinguished lawyer, she has lived a very full life. But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life, she realizes that the letter she has been writing over the years needs to be read and that she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness.
Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, The Correspondent is a gem of a novel about the power of finding solace in literature and connection with people we might never meet in person. It is about the hubris of youth and the wisdom of old age, and the mistakes and acts of kindness that occur during a lifetime. Sybil Van Antwerp’s life of letters might be “a very small thing,” but she also might be one of the most memorable characters you will ever read.
About Virginia Evans:
Virginia Evans is from the east coast of the United States. She attended James Madison University for her bachelor’s in English literature, as well as Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, for her master’s of philosophy in creative writing. Now she lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with her husband, two children, and her Red Labrador, Brigid.
About Blakely Little:
Blakely Little’s passion as a painter comes from a life-long desire to create. She began painting in high school and continued to pursue art at the College of Charleston. In 2013, she studied abroad in Florence, Italy at SACI, where she spent the semester focusing on finding her style. In 2014, she officially started Blakely Made!
Currently, she lives in downtown Charleston with her husband, Curtis, their son, Dean, and their golden retriever, Posie. When not in the studio, she’s often found enjoying Hampton Park or out on the boat exploring the marsh. Inspired by the local waters and her travels, Blakely loves to behold her surroundings and then depict them in her own way on a canvas.