Book Review: The Rosie Project

I have to admit to writing my reviews a little bit out of order. I read The Rosie Project way back in September, right after reading Love Anthony. The reason why this fact is important is because I have been gobsmacked all year over the continuity between each new book I pick up. (Also, to explain that this might be a rather lackluster review because I have waited too long since I finished the book to write it, but let’s pretend I never said anything about that, okay?)

If you don’t remember, the story from Love Anthony pivots on a little boy with Autism. As with any book, I held on to the story as I closed the book, hoping to maintain my grip on the parts that tugged at my heart, but not expecting to be reminded of it again so soon. But those themes continued as I picked up Graeme Simsion’s novel, The Rosie Project. In fact, the term “Asperger’s syndrome” appears right in the second paragraph.

In Love Anthony, a story emerges from the perspective of a child with Autism. In The Rosie Project, we follow the story through Professor Don Tillman’s narration. Don is a middle-aged man who has Asperger’s syndrome, a condition which is very obvious to the reader, but seems to be unknown to Don himself. I found this jump in perspective between child and adult to be particularly interesting, and I would certainly recommend reading both Love Anthony and The Rosie Project one after the other, if possible. (But start with Love Anthony, because it is always nice to end on a lighthearted note, as The Rosie Project certainly is that).

The Rosie Project seems unique to many of the books I have read recently. Who knew I would become drawn in to a book about a middle-aged man on the Autism spectrum on a quest to find a wife? But Graeme Simsion writes in such a straightforward and effervescent way, that I found myself chuckling throughout the whole novel. It was heartwarming at times and poignant in others, but mostly, I think back on this novel with a smile. It was just the story I needed to read after (and before) a few hard, heartbreaking ones.

The feel-good hit of 2013, The Rosie Project is a classic screwball romance about a handsome but awkward genetics professor and the woman who is totally wrong for him. – From the publisher

The Rosie Project really explores the nature of human relationship. Don Tillman, the professor with Asperger’s syndrome, approaches everything with meticulous calculation. When he decides that it was time to find a wife (and embarks upon The Wife Project, as it is known in the book), he knows exactly the type of woman he should be compatible with. He writes out a list, makes a questionnaire, and comes up with an elimination process. In theory, it should work. In theory, he should be able to spot the right person for him on paper, before even meeting her. In theory.

But as Facebook, and the rest of the world knows, relationships are far more complicated than that.

Don, the man whose goal is “to be vigilant that emotions do not cripple us,” aims to balance the continuation of his failing wife project with helping Rosie, “the world’s most incompatible woman” through her own search. In doing so, he begins to learn that love and relationships are anything but two dimensional, and as Don begins to grasp this, the reader also begins to question what might be hiding right in front of our eyes. What is it that we are oblivious to because we are so stuck in our ways? It takes Don a whole book to come to these realizations. How long will it take us?

This bildungsroman was originally written as a romantic comedy screen play before morphing into a novel, and so it is easy to be whisked through the storyline. The Rosie Project is a wonderful, fun book. The characters are quirky, the writing was solid, and the story is easy and fast.

Moms Reading (or, #MomsReading) is a book club designed for busy Moms in mind. It is an online book club that meets once a month on Facebook to discuss that month’s book. Join us TONIGHT at 9pm Eastern when we will be discussing The Rosie Project. Check out the MomsReading page, Like us on Facebook, or join the Goodreads group to keep up to date with our book choices and the book chats.

We are taking a break for December, but if you would like to join us in January, we are reading The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty and we will be chatting about it Wednesday, January 29th at 9pm Eastern.