The Best Literary Novels of 2025

“This unexpected, now-beloved sleeper hit was originally published in April but became a huge bestseller later in the year. An epistolary novel, The Correspondent centers letter-writer (and letter-lover) Sybil Van Antwerp, a 73-year-old divorcée, retiree, adoptee, mother, gardener, and reader whose life and relationships are revealed via quirky, voice-y, wide-ranging letters with family, friends, former work associates, and even authors including Ann Patchett and Joan Didion. As Sybil grapples with her worsening eyesight in the twilight of her life, the reader will find themselves adoring her, rooting for her, and at times repelled and frustrated by her. Thus is the simple, unique pleasure of The Correspondent, a tenderly wrought character study of a singularly fascinating woman.”—LPP