The Visitors of Madison County : Incurable Romantics Come for a Glimpse of Heaven : Iowa: Folks from as far as California and Canada trek to tiny Winterset, searching for Francesca and Robert. Sometimes, they can’t believe the lovers did not exist.

“If you build it, they will come.”

No, wait, that was somewhere else. This isn’t heaven, either, but still romantics come in search of Francesca, Robert and their love nest at the Bridges of Madison County.

Folks from as far away as California and Canada make pilgrimages to tiny Winterset in central Iowa, looking for the couple. Mail turns up at the Winterset post office addressed to Francesca Johnson. A man from San Diego visited several Madison County cemeteries last summer, looking for the grave of Richard Johnson, Francesca’s husband.

But they aren’t real people, Sherry Ellis tells visitors over and over; they were made up by author Robert Waller.

“I think the word ‘novel’ has lost its meaning to just mean a book of length,” said Ellis, director of the Winterset Chamber of Commerce. “I’ve memorized Webster’s Dictionary to back up what I’m saying.

“Webster’s Dictionary says a novel is a fictional piece of length.”

Ellis says she just tells the truth, even to the man looking for the grave.

“I just kind of let him cry,” she said. “I have to tell them the truth. I said, ‘I hate to be the one to break your heart, but Richard Johnson did not exist.’ ”

All this uproar and Waller’s books don’t even hold the No. 1 spot on best-seller lists anymore.

Both his novels are stories of once-in-a-lifetime love. But it’s “Bridges of Madison County” that catapulted him to international fame, weaving the tale of Robert Kincaid, a photographer for National Geographic magazine, and Francesca Johnson, an Iowa farm wife. The two fall in love after Kincaid stops at her house near Roseman Bridge to ask directions.

Their brief affair ends when she decides to stay with her family. The story is told in flashbacks when her children find a letter after her death that she had written to them.

For nearly a year, Waller’s novels topped the New York Times’ best-seller list for hardcover fiction. “Bridges” reached No. 1 on Jan. 31, 1993, and held that position until Nov. 17, when it was replaced by his “Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend.”

“Slow Waltz” was toppled on Jan. 8 by Michael Crichton’s “Disclosure.”

In the Feb. 27 lists, “Bridges” was third and “Slow Waltz” was fourth in the New York Times list and had slipped to No. 4 and 5 on the rankings by Publishers Weekly.

Still, the number of visitors to the famous bridges keeps increasing. Through this spring and summer, Ellis has booked 60 bus tours, including five for tourists from Japan, where “Bridges” was No. 1. Last year, she booked 44 tours.

Ellis says she doesn’t know what makes Waller’s books such a phenomenon.

“Nobody knows what it is. No idea. Everybody loves them for a different reason,” she said.

Edna Dolson of Winterset, who only will say she’s 75-plus, is fascinated by Waller’s stories because she thinks they’re about someone from her city. She even asked him during one of his visits to Winterset if Francesca and Robert are based on someone she knows.

“I really think they are,” she said. “He says they’re not, but I really think they could be.”

Dolson was among the hundreds of fans who lined up in December at a West Des Moines bookstore to get Waller’s autograph on their books, tapes and compact discs.

Mary Peters Baker, 38, of Des Moines wanted Waller’s autograph because “Bridges” really hit home for her.

“It’s just a true love story about how love never dies and if you truly love somebody, it’s there forever,” she said.

Seventy-year-old Bill Brown, another Des Moines native, also is a believer. And if Waller’s stories didn’t play out in Iowa. . . .

“They happened somewhere,” he said. “It could be anywhere, anyplace.”

What does Waller think about his popularity?

“It’s pretty overwhelming, actually, when you think about it,” he said at his book-signing.

Meanwhile, in Winterset, the list of items “Bridges” fans can buy continues to grow at the chamber office. There are Waller’s books, tapes and CDs, ceramic painted bridges, bridges T-shirts, earrings, lapel pins, bandannas and, finally, bridges bird feeders.

Ellis’ love for the bridges isn’t wavering, even if their popularity makes her days hectic.

“There’s actually a link there with our past that, to me, kind of exemplifies who the people were who helped make us who we are,” she said. “One of the things I love about our bridges is that I believe you can hear butterflies fly, because it is so peaceful and serene out there.”