transcript
show notes
Sybil Van Antwerp is in her seventies, losing her sight and still writing letters every morning: to her children, her brother, old friends, neighbours, strangers and famous authors. Virginia Evans's novel, told entirely through letters and emails, became a word-of-mouth bestseller and won the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction.
In this episode we follow Sybil's life in the order her letters reveal it: the car crash and her failing eyesight, the anonymous letters signed DM, a DNA test that uncovers a sister in Scotland, her ex-husband's request for forgiveness, and a journey to Britain at seventy-nine. Then we reach the truth she has hidden for almost fifty years about her son Gilbert, and explain what the ending means.
We finish with the book's themes and what has actually been confirmed about the Jane Fonda film, which is still in development.
