Whiti Hereaka

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 target="_top">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/the-graphologists-apprentice-by-whiti-hereak...… (meer)

(7.5) I am really struggling to rate this book. I feel very out of step with the glowing reviews.
To begin with there is no clear guidance where to start this book, one side is light coloured the other dark. Our library set it up with the dark, which I suspect is wrong, it being promoted by the publisher with the light cover. So after a false start I turned the book around. Yes, you have to invert the book. This proved correct as it starts with the beginning of time and Kurangaituku's advent. The telling is very mythological however once we reach her meeting with Hatupatu the story pace picks up. I enjoyed this section, although it is a very feminist take on the traditional Maori tale. When we reach her demise, the beginning of the traditional tale with Hatupatu and his brothers commences until the brothers leave him for dead. This is told on alternate pages, as the other page is the same story inverted starting from part way in from the rear of the book. when this section is completed you invert the book and start from the back. Kurangaituku is dead and has entered the afterlife intent on seeking revenge on Hatupatu. This section is quite fantastical featuring Maori gods and their progeny in various guises and different dominions. It even comes with a lesbian sexual encounter to spice it up! This aside I was starting to think hurry up, enough already. Finally this section comes to an end and yes we reach the alternative paged retelling of Hatupatu and the Birdwoman. I soon realised it was exactly the same as the inverted alternating pages and I had had enough.
So for me the book was spoiled by trying to be far too clever in format. It was just plain confusing and in my opinion totally unnecessary. I dare say it will be a likely contester to win this years New Zealand fiction prize because of its modern interpretation of a traditional Maori legend and its strong feminist stance. However it is not my favourite by any means.… (meer)

I learned of this book from a favorite Instagram account, @apparelforauthors, ordered the book from the publisher in New Zealand and I'm so glad I did. When I first started reading it, I worried that I wouldn't be able to follow it with so many words that were foreign to me. But after such an investment in a brand new book + overseas shipping, I kept reading and once I let myself become absorbed, reading this was truly an experience. It is one of those books that probably permanently alters your brain chemistry.… (meer)