Brandon’s Reviews > Griffin & Sabine > Status Update

Page-Turn 17 gives Sabine the last word: she is a muse who takes more than she gives. My first impression is that an artist who creates a muse is powerfully in control.

Much will depend on how a reader responds to the revelation on Page-Turn 16. My concerns about reliability and disembodied narrators turned out warranted. Rather than a fantasy or sci-fi plot to enhance, we have psychological thriller with a mentally ill romance coming into focus.

On Page-Turn 15, Sabine invites Griffin to visit and leave the unhappiness of London behind.

On Page-Turn 14, Griffin describes a tantrum he threw in a restaurant. A challenge of a correspondence story is there is little objectivity. How reliable is Griffin? Are there any cues or clues? And what do we make of his ask for a “photograph” and Sabine’s response on the right-hand page with a painting? An artistic conflict.

On Page-Turn 13, Sabine speaks to Griffin letting his growing darkness “reflect the night.” He responds on the right page with the haunting “The Blind Leading the Blind”; is that a comment on them both? Just on him, who can’t share sight?

On back of “Frankie and Johnny,” Griffin asks for something from the islands to “heal [his] ailing soul.” On the right-hand page, Sabine’s postcard is busy and not island-esque.

Page-Turn 12: Sabine is concerned for Griffin’s unhappiness. Since Shared Sight only shows Griffin’s art, how can she reciprocate?

Page-Turn 10 reveals the title of the previous page is “Man Descending a Staircase.” Textual content: not long-lost twins.

On Page-Turn 9, Sabine responds in particular to Griffin’s misery at Vereker’s death. The tone becomes more intimate with a racing heart and finding one another. For Griffin’s part, the right-hand page is a photo of a man smiling as lies head-first going downstairs.

Page-Turn 8 brings Moss’ typed origin story, which moves from “cartoon” parents killed by a newspaper van to his mother’s stepsister Vereker, a potter.