Patricia Forrester Donovan is a contemporary writer of adult fiction.
She grew up in Christchurch, and attended the University of Canterbury where she earned an MA (Hons) in English Literature.
After graduation, she worked in corporate and government communications, in Australia and New Zealand, and is the author of a highly regarded reference book for the profession: Communications. The Four Essential Steps to Best Practice.
The author of four novels since 2022, Donovan has been acclaimed as ‘a prolific new talent’ (NZ Herald), ‘compelling’ (NZ Radio), with ‘sharp characters and elegantly constructed narrative’ (Woman Magazine).
A citizen of both countries, she divides her time between Australia and New Zealand.
‘I write to explore the human experience so ultimately my stories are about my characters, what happens to them, what drives them. But the initial idea, what starts me writing, always comes from circumstance, a situation of some sort, such as societal derision, or bullying, or repressive governance. This situation is what creates the moral or emotional dilemma my characters find themselves in. Without it, there is nothing for them to respond to.
While my novels traverse numerous genres – from the past to the future with a thriller in between, and latterly a crime story – I am always writing about the same thing: a woman’s journey and her quest, in the face of obstacles, to find her strengths and happiness and make her way in the world.’
– Patricia Donovan