The Graphologists Apprentice By Whiti Hereaka
When January's obsession with a married man begins to jeopardise her emotional stability, she decides to risk it all and respond to a mysterious card with the words Tell me a secret? Not content with her home life or work place, January takes comfort in reading romance novels but is suddenly brought back to reality when she meets the secret keeper, Mae, a graphologist. The Graphologists Apprentice is a story about friendship and love and how both can be found in unexpected places. The Graphologists Apprentice
Way back in 2018 when I stumbled on a recommendation for Maori playwright, novelist and screenwriter Whiti Hereaka's debut novel The Graphologist's Apprentice, I bought it without knowing that it had been shortlisted for Best First Book in the 2011 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Asia/Pacific region).
This year Whiti Hereaka (b. 1978) went on to win the $60,000 Jan Medlicott medal at the the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for her book Kurangaituku. which inverts the legend of Hatupatu and the fearsome birdwoman Kurangaituku by narrating the story through Kurangaituku's perspective in an experimental form. So I'm late to be discovering what an exceptional author Hereaka is... but better late than never!
The central character in The Graphologist's Apprentice is January, who has made a complete break with her former life by changing her name by deed poll. She is alone and alienated from the people around her, from her job, and from a family never mentioned. As one of the characters says, January is...
A girl who lacks empathy and seems to want to keep the world at a distance. (Kindle Loc 1540)
Her inner commentary on the people around her is often very funny, but they are a sign that she is in psychological distress.
January imagines the Situations Vacant ad for her position. Are you an unmotivated no-getter who is sick of a challenge? Do you suffer fools gladly? Do you have limited aspirations for your future? If you answered ‘yes’ you’re the perfect fit for our company. Welcome! (Loc 1787)
The firm's Christmas party is real torment:
A murder of managers, black suits and constricting ties, frown into their wine, a flock of geeks try to out-lame each other with their ironic t-shirts and their micro-brewery beer, and a pride of those who have lost all of their attempts to dance in the corner. (Loc 411)
Alice looks as if she is having the time of her life. For some reason she invited a date along. The guy doesn’t look like a gormless freak, but if he’s laughing at her jokes he may just be mentally defective. Alice moves her hand on top of his. January suddenly feels like a voyeur. The gnawing in her organs doesn’t abate with a sip of her drink, and not for the first time tonight January wishes that it were something stronger. Cyanide perhaps.
It is the first awkward moment of a romance – when you lie about little things, like your love of blue cheese, just to appease the other. Then later you find that you both detest the stuff; that you were both being polite, and you fall into each other’s arms laughing. The potential of intimacy is heady, and your entire being is focused on getting to know another. Each other’s mind and moods are a mystery that you can’t wait to solve. (Loc 430)
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2022/07/10/t... 1869694228 I seem doomed to find myself reading, completely by chance, several books at the same time (or in close proximity to each other) with similar themes. Usually I find it amusing, but when the theme is that key characters are unpleasant / unlikable / prickly / casually immoral (2 or 3 of these in combination often - and no, unpleasant and unlikable aren't necessarily the same), it can get a bit much. And so, at the beginning, I found this book to be one that I wasn't sure I wanted to keep on reading. However, I was aware that my reaction was because of the overdose, and because I've enjoyed books by this author and because I find graphology fascinating (though not fascinating enough to ever do a proper study of it, so I probably should say I find it interesting), I persevered. And was glad of it.
January is one of those people you feel really sorry for but still can't bring yourself to like. If I worked with her, I'd probably be like Alice, but I'd never expect January to get over herself. This is a novel, however, and we always have hope that the lonely will find happiness, the misinformed will come to their senses, and there will be a pleasing end that rounds things off nicely. Along the way we expect to find twists and difficult paths, which I found to my satisfaction. And we expect (or at least, I do) to learn something of interest that connects with the title theme, which I did. Of course, the overarching theme is self-realisation and friendship, and there's always more to learn there - another source of satisfaction for me in this book. 1869694228