Griffin and Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence is the first in a captivating series of books by Nick Bantock.

When I try to describe this book series to friends, the best way I can think to do so is by saying they are like pop-up books for grown-ups. Inside there are beautifully drawn postcards, with enchanting full-color art on one side of the page and what looks like handwritten correspondence on the verso. A real treat presents itself when you get to the pages with the envelopes, out of which you can pull actual letters.

As the aptly-subtitled extraordinary correspondence begins, you learn that Griffin Moss, a London artist, and Sabine, an artist and midwife’s assistant from an island in the South Pacific, have not met in person. Yet somehow, they share a mysterious connection. This part-romance, part-fantasy fiction, part-mystery series grew such a following that Bantock responded by creating the equally gorgeous Morning Star Trilogy , which is also comprised of The Gryphon and Alexandria and features the same Griffin and Sabine as well as some new characters.

It seems like it would be a nightmare for public libraries to keep track of the loose pieces, and part of me is reluctant to tell anyone else about them for fear of tempting fate…but I feel it wouldn’t be fair to keep something so enjoyable under wraps. I am grateful and pleased to report to you that not once in my history of repeatedly checking out these books from multiple libraries do I recall ever encountering a missing or ill-treated piece. This is a great credit to Bantock’s readers and I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of them for taking such good care of these treasures!

In 2016, on the 25th anniversary of the first publication of Griffin and Sabine, Bantock released The Pharos Gate: Griffin and Sabine’s Lost Correspondence.  I eagerly got my hands on it. It was like catching up with a dear old friend.

Reading these books is like being a fly (who can open mail) on the wall of a talented stranger’s mailbox. I cannot overemphasize how fun it is feeling like a secret observer to this mystical correspondence. The artwork and fonts are so intriguing they are beyond my description – you really just have to check them out to see for yourself!