The Griffin and Sabine books are my latest reading project. I call it a project because I plan to read one book right after the other. And then read them again.
These books hold much more than a story though. They are a feast for my senses. They have everything I love: handwritten letters, postcards, stamps, colorful, albeit sometimes strange, illustrations. There is so much creativity on these pages written and embellished by Nick Bantock that I am dazzled.
I have read through the first book of correspondence between Griffin, a London postcard artist, and Sabine, a woman living on a South Pacific island with her own artful style. What fun it is to actually open an envelope and read a letter written by one or the other.
How these two came into each other's worlds you will just have to find out for yourself. I wouldn't dare spoil the surprise.
I was working in an independent bookstore in 1991 when the first of these books came out. It was terribly popular and caught my eye but for some reason, although I loved the look of its gorgeous pages, I just never took the time to give it more than a cursory glance.
Now is my chance.
After these three, there is also The Morning Star Trilogy that continues the story of these artistic correspondents. And just this year, a seventh book, The Pharos Gate, has been published. You can see what I mean about this being a project!
Here are a few close-ups of the delights contained in this world of Griffin and Sabine:
A stamp in bloom
A handwritten letter - in fountain pen, no less - from Sabine
A closeup of one of the fanciful postcard drawings
Even the end papers are intriguing
And a Postscript:
Oddly, this envelope (not part of the book)
with its handwritten message
was tucked into the pages of Griffin and Sabine.
This on the heels of my post about finding
strange things in books!
Have you already been enchanted by Griffin and Sabine or will you be adding these works of art to your reading list?
