January is bored in her life, unhappy and friendless, and she is absorbed in a fantasy romance she has invented with a married man. Through an advertisement in a paper, January meets Mae, an elderly woman, who is a graphologist looking to pass on her knowledge. Mae teaches January graphology skills - how to learn about a person's character from their handwriting - and the two become friends, until Mae challenges January about her fantasy affair. Mae finds 'love letters' that January has written, but are supposedly from her lover. In fury, January retaliates by destroying Mae's life work. All seems lost, but January seeks to win back her friend and begin building a new life. "Wonderfully enjoyable, imaginative, moving and funny. Great characters, especially January and Mae - they'll stay with me for a long time." Renee, novelist and playwright

Accolades

Shortlisted for Commonwealth Writers' Prize Best First Book - SE Asia and South Pacific 2011.

Author Biography

Whiti Hereaka has an MA in Creative Writing and has written for theatre, film, radio and print. Her talent for storytelling is demonstrated through her awards for a number of plays and short film scripts, winning the E Tuhi! Best Screenplay for a Short Film in 2005 while her latest play, 'Te Kaupoi', has recently won the 2010 Adam New Zealand Play Awards Best Play by a Maori playwright award. The Graphologist's Apprentice is her first novel and will be launched to coincide with the first run of her play 'Te Kaupoi' at Bats Theatre in Wellington.