Made to Measure eBook Pre-Order

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Imagine if scientists constantly measure your life — and they all predict failure.

As a lifetime member of a human development study, Walt Colson regularly donates his statistics to science: everything from dental plaque to tax returns. He knows it’s a worthy cause, a bit like jury service, only someone keeps checking his ears, but the study isn’t doing him any favours. Now in his late thirties and with a chequered career behind him, Walt discovers his life predictors aren’t just bad — they’re scientifically dire.

Using this data to reengineer his life and achieve personal success, things quickly unravel. After a public humiliation, Walt loses everything, including his family. Finally seeking help, in the most unlikely of places, has Walt left it too late?

Told with heartwarming humour, Made to Measure considers what happens when a small life is overwhelmed by big questions. 

Read the Excerpt

Publication date August 2025

Imagine if scientists constantly measure your life — and they all predict failure.

As a lifetime member of a human development study, Walt Colson regularly donates his statistics to science: everything from dental plaque to tax returns. He knows it’s a worthy cause, a bit like jury service, only someone keeps checking his ears, but the study isn’t doing him any favours. Now in his late thirties and with a chequered career behind him, Walt discovers his life predictors aren’t just bad — they’re scientifically dire.

Using this data to reengineer his life and achieve personal success, things quickly unravel. After a public humiliation, Walt loses everything, including his family. Finally seeking help, in the most unlikely of places, has Walt left it too late?

Told with heartwarming humour, Made to Measure considers what happens when a small life is overwhelmed by big questions. 

Read the Excerpt

Publication date August 2025

About the author

New Zealand writer Philippa Swan originally trained as a landscape architect. Writing for lifestyle magazines, and winning several short-story competitions, her first book Life (and Death) in a Small City Garden is a funny and frank account of the making of a contemporary urban garden. Her debut novel, The Night of All Souls, in which Edith Wharton seeks to reboot her career in the modern world, was applauded by the Sydney Morning Herald for its wit and style.

Philippa's curiosity took a new turn when she had children. Inspired by a long-running Longitudinal Study, she began wondering:  How do you raise decent human beings? Is it possible to influence the outcome of a life? And are team sports strictly necessary? These days, when not writing, Philippa loves growing heritage garlic which she supplies to a local restaurant.