Sabine's Notebook

Today's post is on Sabine's Notebook by Nick Bantock. It is the second in his Griffin & Sabine trilogy. It is 48 pages long and is published by Chronicle Books. The cover is a beautiful, stylized map of Europe. The intended reader is someone who loves art, reading other peoples mail, and where art and story meet. There is no language, no sex, and no violence in this book. The story is told from the first person perspective of the two main characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- Griffin
Foolish man. You cannot turn me into a phantom because you are frightened. You do not dismiss a muse at a whim. If you will not join me--then I will come to you.
Sabine
 
Sabine was supposed to be imaginary, a friend and lover that Griffin had created to soothe his loneliness. But she threatens to become embodied--to appear on his doorstep, in fact. So he runs.
Faced with the terrifying prospect of meeting his own fictional character, Griffin runs. His journey begins conventionally--tracing a course through Europe and the Mediterranean--but slowly Griffin begins to realize that he is traveling backward in time, drifting through layers of dead civilizations and his own soul. His precarious link to reality is the possibly unreal Sabine, who is living in his house in London and keeping a notebook of his letters and her responses.
Once again, the story is told in strangely beautiful postcards and richly decorated letters that must actually be removed from their envelopes to be read. But Sabine's Notebook is also a sketchbook and a diary, filled with her delicately macabre drawings and notations, adding yet another layer to the visual intrigue that haunted readers of Griffin & Sabine and welcoming new readers to an even more complex and mysterious world.

Review- I love this story. Now that said I think that Griffin is being very dramatic for this whole book. The magical elements of the story really get a bigger focus. Sabine comes to London and Griffin gets to go on a grand adventure that almost kills him. Griffin decides that he needs to deal with himself before he comes back to Sabine. But the dark forces in the world are coming to get them both. Griffin is being hunted by something. Sabine is holding his way to safety but only if he can trust her. Griffin is struggling with everything that has happened to him so that makes him a little whiny but I still like him. The ending cliff hanger is good but I am glad that I have the next volume right here.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this book with my own money.