The Rosie Project

  Graeme Simsion

March 10th 2020


Disclaimer : I finished reading the Rosie Project while I was in Mongolia. However, when I was about to start writing this, I had to leave the country immediately and now it has been 20 days since I finished reading it. I am not sure if it is because of the time gap but I really struggled to write this one. So please don't be disappointed at a subpar review that you are about to read.

Don Tillman is a professor of genetics, a highly intelligent, rational person with some form of asperger’s syndrome. Just like how Don approaches everything in life with order and evidence-based manner, he devises a 16 page questionnaire to find the perfect wife. The questionnaire is designed to weed out the smokers, the time wasters, the disorganized, the late arrivers, the drinkers and find the perfect compatible wife. Then comes Rosie, a woman who is the complete opposite of everything that Don Tillman is looking for in a wife. Although Rosie is disqualified as a ‘wife candidate’ for Don, they spend time together trying to find Rosie’s biological father. In the process of finding Rosie’s father, the two fall for each other.

Before meeting Rosie, Don goes on several dates with other women. During one of the dates, Don finds out the IQ of his date the following way.

Rather than ask about IQ, I decided to make an estimate based on Olivia’s response to questions about the historical impact of variations in susceptibility to syphilis across native South American populations. We had a fascinating conversation, and I felt that the topic might even allow me to slip in the sexually-transmitted-diseases question. Her IQ was definitely above the required minimum



Seeing how Don’s world is gradually changed in every aspect because of Rosie is what keeps you glued to the book. Here's a man who plans his whole week minute by minute on a white board. A stickler for rules who doesn’t mind expelling a student for copying a sentence from a paper three years ago but later breaks every rule for love. The Rosie project is a truly heartwarming and light read with lots of laughter.



The next two books in the sequel