Nick Bantock's illuminations of love

Griffin and Sabine, 2-gether 4-ever

(CNN) -- Nick Bantock got the idea for his romantically destined characters, Griffin and Sabine, in the most commonplace of common places -- the post office.

"I went down to get my mail, and the guy next to me takes out this fabulous letter," he recalls. "I'm thinking, everyone wants to get great mail."

And that got Bantock, then primarily a book-cover artist, thinking about what a truly classic correspondence would be like. It would feature two people, a man and a woman, writing to each other; it would contain geography, mystery, inner journeys; and, of course, it would be about love.

And thus was born Griffin and Sabine: Griffin, a lovelorn postcard artist in Britain; Sabine, a mysterious woman somewhere in the South Pacific who can see Griffin's work in her mind's eye. In three books, "Griffin and Sabine," "Sabine's Notebook," and "The Golden Mean," the two trade detailed, rapturously illustrated postcards and letters, filled with romantic yearnings and strange connections, as they attempt to bridge the literal and figurative distances between them and fulfill their destiny to be together.

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The trilogy combines elements of mythology, poetry (some of the symbolism is drawn from Yeats' "The Second Coming"), Jungian psychology (Bantock has a background in therapy), and old-fashioned romance, illuminated with Bantock's startling and beautiful illustrations. Whether it's the love story, the mythology, or the simple thrill of reading someone else's mail, the trilogy struck a nerve. The books have sold more than 3 million copies, and Bantock recently renewed acquaintance with Griffin and Sabine in a new work, "The Gryphon" (Chronicle).

Bantock, a wiry, gracious man with an easy smile, has a simple explanation for the books' success. "They're a cross between sex and Christmas," he laughs.

'It poured out of me'

In "The Gryphon," an archeologist working in Alexandria, Egypt -- where "The Golden Mean" ended -- receives a letter from Sabine. He shares the contents with his girlfriend in Paris, who begins receiving letters from Griffin. And thus two love stories -- one old, one new -- take flight, though leavened with uncertainty (just where did Griffin and Sabine end up? What do they know?) and the malevolent presence of Victor Frolatti, the nosy "scientific journalist" from the earlier books.

Bantock, a native of Britain who now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, hadn't planned on a new Griffin and Sabine book. But the characters wouldn't go away.

"I was talking with a friend about internal mythology, and he asked about Griffin and Sabine. I said that I kind of gave them away. They're no longer mine.

"But that wasn't true," he continues. "I sat down to make some notes, and then realized, 'These aren't notes. It's a bloody book.' It poured out of me, and soon became obvious it was three books." The other two volumes in the current trilogy, titled "Alexandria" and "The Morning Star," are due out over the next two years.

Despite the rich literary and commercial life of the characters, the first trilogy almost didn't happen. Bantock had created a dummy work of a few postcards after working through his initial idea, and was planning to show it to a friend in San Francisco. But an editor he was visiting caught a glimpse of the work in his bag and asked to see it.

Nick Bantock

"We fought over it. I'm probably the first person to block a bestseller," he says. "I say, 'Who will write it?' And they say, 'You will.' "

Which doesn't come without difficulty. Bantock had written little before "Griffin and Sabine," and even now, the work is painstaking. He likes to do the art and text at the same time, and he does the production work -- the design, the plates -- at his own firm before sending it off to the printer. It's complex stuff, but "it has to look easy," he says.

Sharing fantasies

Readers obviously appreciate Bantock's work -- and the messages within his books. They've taken Griffin and Sabine to heart, even sending the books to their beloveds as an expression of affection. Many have written Bantock to tell him how much they enjoy the series.

"The [letters] that satisfy me the most are the ones from readers who say their relationship flowered through the books," Bantock says. "Or that the couples read to each other. It sounds kind of schmaltzy, but it's not really sentimental -- if they share the same fantasy, there's a richness there."

Other readers tell him they've been inspired to return to their art.

"People say they've got their paints down for the first time in awhile. My books have given them permission to work again. That makes me feel I'm doing something worthwhile," he says.

Love, of course, doesn't always maintain its rich wonder. Griffin and Sabine may seem so attractive because their love is perfect and immortal. Even Bantock, who's about 50, isn't immune from love's vicissitudes; he's divorced and lives with his teen-age son.

But that doesn't mean he's stopped believing in it.

"Part of it has to do with what the Spanish call duende -- the passion of creativity," he says. "With my life and art, I'm lucky enough to exist in that every day, and I have a reasonably optimistic view of life. You don't have to have fallen hopelessly in love [to appreciate it]. Sometimes the memory is enough."